“My mind was made up never to leave my parents. I felt that their absorbing love could never be repaid by the longest life-service.”

Explaining her decision to prioritise filial duty over marriage in her youth · Autobiography, Letters of Life

• Devotion
• Duty
• Family

“If there is any kitchen in Parnassus, my Muse has surely officiated there as a woman of all work, and an aproned waiter.”

A wry, self-deprecating summary of a long working life spent turning domestic duty into verse · Autobiography, Letters of Life

• Craft
• Humility
• Work

“The Sabbath is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week.”

A memorable image of sacred time giving structure and coherence to ordinary life · Prose writing, commonly attributed

• Faith
• Time