"In the early nineteenth century, women artists were by definition monstrous."
-Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon

"Far from being intimidated by her accomplished male companions, she took heart from the idea that in becoming an author she was living up to her literary heritage."
-Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon

"These people who had lived in the same place all of their days did not know how strange and curious the world could be.  She saw how suspicious they were of outsiders and how fearful of change.  How limited their lives seemed!" 
-Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon

"...He had sent Mary a stilted love poem and she had scoffed at his efforts, declaring that she did not want an artificial composition, but instead 'a bird's eye view of your heart.'  Do not write me again, she said, 'unless you honestly acknowledge yourself bewitched.'"
- Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon

"He did not want to give up his quiet lodgings and subject himself to the confusion of Mary's household, outlining his anxieties in an essay he wrote for The Enquirer in which he spoke about the dangers of "cohabitation":

'It seems to be one of the most important of the arts of life, that men should not come too near each other, or touch in too many points.  Excessive familiarity is the bane of social happiness.'"
- Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon

"Their refusal to bow down, to subside and surrender, to be quiet and subservient, to apologize and hide, makes their lives as memorable as the words they left behind.  They asserted their right to determine their own destinies, starting a revolution that has yet to end." 
- Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon