Quote 1
"These things happened last winter, sir," said Mrs. Dean; "hardly more than a year ago. Last winter, I did not think, at another twelve months' end, I should be amusing a stranger to the family with relating them! Yet, who knows how long you'll be a stranger?" (25.1)
Nelly indulges Lockwood's fantasy that he actually has a chance with Cathy Heathcliff. Why she does this is unclear. What's even stranger is that Nelly would think that this union would be a good idea. These people don't seem to marry outside the family.
Quote 2
"'Loving!' cried I, as scornfully as I could utter the word. 'Loving!' Did anybody ever hear the like! I might just as well talk of loving the miller who comes once a year to buy our corn. Pretty loving, indeed! and both times together you have seen Linton hardly four hours in your life! Now here is the babyish trash. I'm going with it to the library; and we'll see what your father says to such loving." (21.140)
Nelly Dean tries to knock some sense into Cathy regarding her affair with Linton Heathcliff. It's interesting to note how gutsy Nelly is in the way she talks to Cathy. After all, Nelly is a housekeeper and Cathy is the master's daughter.
Quote 3
"Don't get the expression of a vicious cur that appears to know the kicks it gets are its desert, and yet, hates all the world, as well as the kicker, for what it suffers." (7.42)
Good advice, Nelly, but it's lost on the vengeful Heathcliff. Still, she tries, and this is an important moment. Though Heathcliff has no mentor (see "Character Roles"), Nelly makes an attempt here to provide some useful guidance. (Plus, the dog metaphor is a good one for that house!)