Sophia

“Because, says Emilia, there was a rumor about you. Someone swore that, when you were a little girl, he once saw you touch a tiger. And the tiger didn't harm you, it let you stroke it. It was always said that you had charmed the beast, like an enchantress. Impossible, of course, but—
Not impossible, says Lucrezia, not at all.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait

“And you cannot call me 'George' now?"
"Impossible!—I can never call you anything but 'Mr. Knightley.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Ah, one learns when one has to; one learns when one needs a way out; one learns at all costs. One stands over oneself with a whip; one flays oneself at the slightest opposition.”
― Franz Kafka, A Report for an Academy

“He shook his head; but there was a smile of indulgence with it, and he only said:
"I shall not scold you. I leave you to your own reflections."
"Can you trust me with such flatterers?—Does my vain spirit ever tell me I am wrong?"
"Not your vain spirit, but your serious spirit.—If one leads you wrong, I am sure the other tells you of it.”
― Jane Austen, Emma