Quotes by Susan Ferrier

“Heath covered hills and high cheek-bones are the charms that must win my heart.""I'm delighted to hear you say so, my dear Mary," said the literal-minded Grizzy. "Certainly nothing can be prettier than the heather when it's in flower; and there is something very manly”

“The carriage drove smoothly along, and the sound of the church bell fell at intervals on the ear, 'in cadence sweet, now dying away'; and, at the holy sound, Mary's heart flew back to the peaceful vale and primitive kirk at Lochmarlie, where all her happy sabbaths had been spent. The view now opened on the villiage church, beautifully situated on the slope of a green hill. Parties of struggling villagers, in their holiday suits, were descried in all directions, some already assembled in the church-yard, others traversing the neat foot-paths that led through the meadows. But, to Mary's eyes, the well dressed English rustic, trudging along the smooth path, was a far less picturesque object, than the bare-footed Highland girl, bounding over trackless heath-covered hills; and the well-preserved glossy blue coat, seemed a poor substitute for the varied drapery of the graceful plaid.””

“I must now turn my head into a museum, and hang up all my smary sayings inside my brain, there to putrify, as warnings to all past misses.””

“You’ll never get rid of a stupid man by civility.””

“If you can’t even imagine such things as prejudice, narrow-mindedness, envy, hatred, and malice, your ignorance is bliss and you had better remain in it.””

“If people will be irritable,” said Mary, laughing, “why must others sacrifice their feelings to gratify them?””

“If people will be affected and ridiculous, why must I live in a state of warfare with myself on account of the feelings they rouse within me?””

“When I reflect upon the characters of most of my acquaintances, I sometimes think nature has formed my optics only to see disagreeables.””

“To Mrs. Douglas’s more discerning eye, Mary’s happiness did not appear in so dazzling a light as the weaker optics of her aunts.””

“At eighteen Adelaide Douglas was as heartless and ambitious as she was beautiful and accomplished; but the surface was covered with flowers, and who would have thought of analysing the soul?””