Laughter springs from the lawless part of our nature, and is purifying only in so far as there is a natural and unschooled goodness in the human heart.

Humor brings insight and tolerance.

Wit is as infinite as love, and a deal more lasting in its qualities.

It is bad enough to be bad, but to be bad in bad taste is unpardonable.

Resistance, which is the function of conservatism, is essential to orderly advance.

What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a laugh!

Diaries tell their little tales with a directness, a candor, conscious or unconscious, a closeness of outlook, which gratifies our sense of security. Reading them is like gazing through a small clear pane of glass. We may not see far and wide, but we see very distinctly that which comes within our field of vision.