It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

-Austen,Jane
  Pride and Prejudice, ch.1, opening lines.

If I am to disclose to you what I should prefer if I follow theinclinationof mynature,it isthis: beggar-womanand single, far rather than queen and married!

-Elizabeth I
   Attributed reply to an imperial envoy. Quoted in  J E Neale Queen Elizabeth I (1979).

I was ever of the opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single and only talked of population.

-Goldsmith, Oliver
  The Vicar of  Wakefield, ch.1.

All the wars that are now afoot in Europe have been fused together, and have become a single war.

-Gustavus II (Adolphus)
  Letter to  Axel Oxenstierna, referring to the ThirtyYears War,1618^48.

The fountains mingle with the river, And the rivers with the ocean; The winds of heaven mix for ever With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things, bya law divine, In one spirit meet and mingle. Why not I with thine?

-Shelley, Percy Bysshe
  'Love and Philosophy'.

Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass!

-Wordsworth,William
^5  'The Solitary Reaper', l.1^4 (published1807).

To live single isnot such a fearful disaster. I believe it may be a sign of a step forward in culture, education and the quality of life.

-Zhang,Jie
  'Love Must Not Be Forgotten', in Seven Contemporary WomenWriters (1982).