Searching for passage in Thomas Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes."

Someone once told me about a passage from Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes" that I would like to quote verbatim. I have not read the book, and much as I like Hardy, I don't have the time to read the entire novel. I would be very grateful for anyone who can tell me the chapter in which the passage appears and perhaps a key phrase from it so I can search the electronic version on this site.

The passage is an observation about sex differences. Someone in the book observes that men think they must remake the entire world -- set all of society to rights -- in order to be happy in their little corner of it. Women, on the other hand, are more concerned with their little corner, and think it is usually pointless to try to change the world.

Any help much appreciated.