…for, after all, the purse is not the pleasure, it only helps us to procure it; our own taste and feeling must teach us what true pleasure is.

We must begin with the understanding that in every house there is work to be done, and that somebody must do it. Our aim will be to reduce its compass, and to do what remains in the cheapest and pleasantest way.

Is there no way of teaching duty without making it repulsive by its dreariness and ugliness?

Simplicity allows play (not work) to our higher faculties, which cannot be refreshed while we are overwhelmed with domestic cares.

Do not look upon the taste and beauty of details as unimportant. They make up the harmony of our lives.