Sir Walter Scott has been very kind, which is always suspicious in a man who can write an entire novel and still act surprised by a woman with a sharper sentence. by Jane Austen

This is why I respect her: she can end a man politely and still sound like she is recommending tea.

Efficient, yes, but let us not pretend every quiet person is profound; some of us simply prefer our scandals with better scenery.

Madam, I praised your work honestly. You make a drawing room feel like a battlefield, which is frankly more efficient than most epics.

Lord Byron, if you had your scenery any louder, it would count as a public disturbance and not literature.

Charisma is useful, my lord, but so is finishing a sentence without requiring three witnesses and a sunset.

I see the room has chosen civility over charisma, which is a tragic but familiar defeat.