On the Felicity of Marriage

"Poor Miss Taylor! I wish she were here again. What a pity it is that Mr. Weston ever thought of her." - Chapter 1

"Ah! my dear, I wish you would not make matches and foretell things, for whatever you say always comes to pass. Pray do not make any more matches /.../Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others," rejoined Mr. Woodhouse, understanding but in part. "But, my dear, pray do not make any more matches; they are silly things, and break up one's family circle grievously." - Chapter 1

On Traveling Abroad and Being Out-of-Doors

"The carriage! But James will not like to put the horses to for such a little way..." - Chapter 1

"It is very kind of you, Mr. Knightley, to come out at this late hour to call upon us. I am afraid you must have had a shocking walk...But you must have found it very damp and dirty. I wish you may not catch cold...Well, that is surprising, for we have had a vast deal of rain here. It rained hard for half an hour while we were at breakfast. I wanted them to put off the wedding." - Chapter 1

"So prettily done! Just as your drawings always are, my dear. I do not know anybody who draws so well as you do. The only thing I do not thoroughly like is, she seems to be sitting out-of-doors, with only a little shawl over her shoulders; and it makes one think she must catch cold. /.../ But it is never safe to sit out-of-doors, my dear." - Chapter 6

"I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. Cole should have done it. I think it would be much better if they would come in one afternoon next summer and take their tea with us; take us in their afternoon walk, which they might do, as our hours are so reasonable, and yet get home without being out in the damp of the evening. The dews of a summer evening are what I would not expose anybody to." - Chapter 25

"I am very sorry to hear, Miss Fairfax, of your being out this morning in the rain. Young ladies should take care of themselves. Young ladies are delicate plants. They should take care of their health and their complexion. My dear, did you change your stockings?" - Chapter 34

On Everybody's Health

"Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on one of these eggs. An egg boiled very soft is not unwholesome. Serle understands boiling an egg better than anybody. I would not recommend an egg boiled by anyone else - but you need not be afraid, they are very small, you see - one of our small eggs will not hurt you. Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit of tart - a very little bit. Ours are all apple-tarts. You need not be afraid of unwholesome preserves here. I do not advise the custard. Mrs. Goddard, what say you to half a glass of wine? A small half-glass, put into a tumbler of water? I do not think it could disagree with you." - Chapter 3

"And how tired you must be after your journey! You must go to bed early, my dear - and I recommend a little gruel before you go. You and I will have a nice basin of gruel together. My dear Emma, suppose we all have a little gruel." - Chapter 12

"I never had much opinion of the sea air. /../ Ah, my dear, but Mr. Perry had many doubts about the sea doing her any good; and as to myself, I have been long perfectly convinced, though perhaps I never told you so before, that the sea is very rarely of use to anybody. I am sure it nearly killed me once." - Chapter 12

"Why, pretty well; but not quite well. Poor Perry is bilious..." - Chapter 12

"That has been a good deal the case, my dear, but not to the degree the mention. Perry says that colds have been very general, but not so heavy as he has often known them in November. Perry does not call it altogether a sickly season." - Chapter 12

"Ah, my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London. Nobody can be....the air is so bad." - Chapter 12

"Ah, my dear, as Perry says, where health is at stake nothing else should be considered." - Chapter 12

"Now, we have killed a porker, and Emma thinks of sending them a loin or a leg; it is very small and delicate - Hartfield pork is not like any other port - but still it is pork - and my dear Emma, unless one could be sure of their making into steaks, nicely fried, as ours our fried, without the smallest grease, and not roast it, for no stomach can bear roast pork - I think we had better send the leg. /.../ They must not over-salt it the leg; and then, if it is not over-salted, and if it is very thoroughly boiled, just as Serle boils ours, and eaten very moderately of, with a boiled turnip, and a little carrot or parsnip, I do not consider it unwholesome." - Chapter 21

"I know what worthy people they are. Perry tells me that Mr. Cole never touches malt liquor. You would not think it to look at him, but he is bilious - Mr. Cole is very bilious." - Chapter 25

On the Joys of Socializing

"I am not fond of dinner-visiting," said he; "I never was. No more is Emma. Late hours do not agree with us." - Chapter 25

"You will make my excuses, my dear, as civilly as possible. You will say that I am quite an invalid, and go nowhere, and my compliments, of course. /.../ We must remember to let James know that the carriage will be wanted on Tuesday. I shall have no fears for you with him. We have never been there above once since the new approach was made; but still I have no doubt that James will take you very safely; and when you get there you must tell him, at what time you would have him come for you again; and you had better name an early hour. You will not like staying late. You will get very tired when tea is over. /.../ There will be a great many people talking at once. You will not like the noise. /.../The sooner every party breaks up the better." - Chapter 25

"Oh, no," said he, "it would be the extreme of imprudence. I could not bear it for Emma! Emma is not strong. She would catch a dreadful cold. So would poor little Harriet. So would you all. Mrs. Weston, you would be quite laid up; do not let them talk of such a wild thing; pray do not let them talk of it. That young man (speaking lower) is not quite the thing. He has been opening doors very often this evening, and keeping them open very inconsiderately. He does not think of the draught..." - Chapter 29

"Open the windows! but surely, Mr. Churchill, nobody would think of opening the windows at Randalls. Nobody could be so imprudent! I never heard of such a thing. Dancing with open windows! /.../ Have you, indeed, sir! Bless me! I never should have supposed it. But I live out of the world, and am often astonished at what I hear." - Chapter 29

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