‘Now, my dears,’ said old Mrs Rabbit one morning, ‘you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden.’

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, written by Beatrix Potter in 1893, revised and, after several publishers’ rejections, privately printed by Potter in 1901)

‘It is possible for angels to become devils and … for devils to become angels.’

The Lucifer Effect, Philip Zimbardo, 2007

‘Seeking to make peace, I threw in a word in praise of the liberty of opinion in France. I could hardly have shot more amiss. There was an instant silence, and a great wagging of significant heads.’

An Inland Voyage, R. L. Stevenson, 1911-12

‘A look had appeared in Tommy’s eyes that made me catch my breath. It was one I hadn’t seen for a long time and that belonged to the Tommy who’d had to be barricaded inside a classroom while he kicked over desks.’

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005

‘There is something ugly within all of us.

I mean, I guess so. I felt powerless and that made me seek power, and I found it in fear. But it was my own fear that urged me to seek out the fear in others.’

The Night Alphabet, Joelle Taylor, 2024

‘There is no record of what Mr Bronte thought of his son’s new venture: any letters he may have written on the subject were not kept. Like many other parents, he was silent about his daughters’ achievements until after they were dead and one of them was famous: he was consistently silent about his boy.’

The Internal World of Branwell Bronte, Daphne du Maurier, 1960

Mr Darcy – hero or villain???