The number of those who have nothing to recommend them and of those in whom nothing but good can be found is probably equal - Murasaki Shikibu
Let us be sure that the lady of our choice possesses certain tangible qualities that we admire; and if in other ways she falls short of our ideal, we must be patient and call to mind those qualities that first induced us to begin our courting. - Murasaki Shikibu
i wish you could understand me, but of course it is not the way of this world that we are ever completely understood. - Murasaki Shikibu