There is a secret and wholesome conviction in the heart of every man or woman who has written a book that it should be no easy matter for an intelligent reader to lay down that book unfinished. There is a pardonable impression among reviewers that half an hour in its company is sufficient.

Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.

to be civilized is to be incapable of giving unnecessary offense, it is to have some quality of consideration for all who cross our path.

We cannot hope to scale great moral heights by ignoring petty obligations.

It is impossible to withhold education from the receptive mind, as it is impossible to force it upon the unreasoning.

Innovations to which we are not committed are illuminating things.

Lovers of the town have been content, for the most part, to say they loved it. They do not brag about its uplifting qualities. They have none of the infernal smugness which makes the lover of the country insupportable.