“He is very fond of ladies' society.”

A father's brief observation on his son's tastes · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, October 30, 1884

• Character
• Family

“Don't let this kill you. I have run away.”

The brief note left when she fled her first marriage for Horace Wylie · Letter to her mother, December 1910

• Family
• Freedom
• Rebellion

“I often dream of the day when we shall live together in a modest country house with a fruit garden, and perhaps we shall be happy.”

Original: Marzę sobie, jak to my kiedyś zamieszkamy w skromnym dworku z owocowym sadem, jak będziem mieli co wieczór kilku miłych przyjaciół, a czasem pójdziemy do żydowskiej szopy, gdzie przy łojowych świeczkach będą włóczący się aktorowie grać komedyjki, umyślnie dla ciebie napisane. — The imagined future is modest, domestic and communal rather than grand or worldly. · Letter to his mother, 1842 (Polish)

• Family
• Happiness
• Home

“For thirty years I have gone straight to her bedside as soon as I arose in the morning, and wherever she is, I am sure she wants me now.”

Expressing a lifetime of habitual devotion to her sister and faith in their continuing bond · Letter to Mrs. Croly, 1873

• Devotion
• Family
• Loss

“I favor early marriage.”

A brief statement of his personal view on marriage and family life. · Auto-Analysis

• Family
• Marriage

“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

“I think he is getting a little bored here, with no company to speak of.”

On his son's dull stay in Glasgow · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, October 30, 1884

• Family
• Home

“No race can afford to neglect the enlightenment of its mothers. If you would have strong men, virtuous women, and good homes, then enlighten your women.”

She places the education of women at the heart of the moral strength of a community. · Address, Enlightened Motherhood, 1892

• Education
• Family
• Women

“We have been building a home for the last fifteen years, but it begins to look now as though it will not be finished for many years to come.”

Presenting home as something created gradually through shared life rather than construction alone · Prose memoir, Making the House a Home, 1922

• Family
• Home
• Time

“I am pained often to see how his want of self-control and his habitual intolerance of any restraint works against his cure.”

Candid worry about his son's discipline · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, October 30, 1884

• Discipline
• Family

“I learned how much braver the woman has to be than the man.”

Reflecting on the different burdens of grief he observed within domestic life · Prose memoir, Making the House a Home, 1922

• Courage
• Family
• Grief

“My father, although not a man of remarkable ability, possessed the most uncompromising honesty I ever met with.”

Honouring moral integrity above brilliance · Autobiographical fragment, Chapter I (published posthumously, 1877)

• Family
• Truth

“Oh dear! Isn't it all funny! It's what comes of being born a Crapsey.”

Family humour in the face of a small disappointment · Letter to her parents

• Character
• Family
• Humour

“I am of a family who were ever soldiers and poets.”

Places his two defining identities within a family tradition · Autobiographical letter to Lewis Chase, 6 June 1917

• Family
• Poetry
• War

“My voice will be quickly forgotten when he returns; my influence — of which I doubt — is only an episode.”

Modest doubt about his own influence as a father · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, October 30, 1884

• Family
• Humility

“So we are trying to keep the name of Holmes respectable on this side of the Atlantic.”

A playful expression of family pride and literary responsibility · Letter to Emra Holmes

• Family
• Humour
• Reputation

“I have heard my mother say many times that the Ledwidges were once a great people in the land.”

Recalls a family history preserved through his mother's storytelling · Autobiographical letter to Lewis Chase, 6 June 1917

• Family
• History
• Memory

“I want to give them a clear five weeks here, and on the Continent.”

Planning a generous holiday for his sons · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, July 31, 1884

• Family
• Travel

“If it were a question of their health or business, it would be different. I should say come at once.”

Weighing urgency against convenience for his sons' visit · Letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, July 31, 1884

• Family
• Judgement

“It will never leave me while I live. He is so near me often …”

Expressing the enduring presence of her son Harry three years after his death · Letter to Mrs Kappey, August 1919

• Family
• Grief
• Memory

“Next to my own family, there is no one in the world that I long so much to see.”

A strong expression of affection for a beloved teacher and friend · Letter from Europe

• Family
• Friendship
• Longing

“More than the increase of wealth, the power of armies, and the strength of fleets is the need of good homes, of good fathers, and good mothers.”

She places family life and moral formation above military and material power. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

• Family
• Home
• Values

“No tie of blood or law should compel you to listen to what means discomfort and disaster to you.”

A striking statement of personal boundaries even within family or legal obligations · Essay, Thought Force

• Boundaries
• Family
• Self

“Say to Frankie that of course I am satisfied with his engagement with Barrett. He must not let it slip in any case.”

Fatherly encouragement about a son's acting engagement · Postscript to letter to Anna Harte, Glasgow, September 5, 1884

• Advice
• Family