“You’ve got me, anyhow. I’m not good for much, I know, but I’ll stand by you, Jo, all the days of my life. Upon my word I will!” And Laurie meant what he said.

—Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)

I believe there are some natures too noble to curb, too lofty to bend. Of such is my Lu.

—Abba Alcott, on the subject of her daughter Louisa (1850)