May I Never, I Say,

I Have Read Of Women Who Have Been Strongly, Grandly Brave. Sometimes I Have Dreamed That I Might Be Brave. The Possibilities Of This Life Are Magnificent.

Genius Of A Kind Has Always Been With Me; An Empty Heart That Has Taken On A Certain Wooden Quality; An Excellent, Strong Woman's Body And A Pitiably Starved Soul.

Some People Say That Beauty Is A Curse. It May Be True, But I'm Sure I Should Not Have At All Minded Being Cursed A Little.

Fame Is Indeed Beautiful And Benign And Gentle And Satisfying, But Happiness Is Something At Once Tender And Brilliant Beyond All Things.

You May Think Me Crude, And Probably I Am Crude, But I Am Not So Crude As I Was, For I Am Clever Enough To See That The Girl Of Nineteen Who Thought Herself A Genius Was Only An Unusual Girl Writing Her Heart Out.