One can only pour out of a jug that which is in it.

Wine is valued for its price, not its flavor.

Little bits of things make me do it; — perhaps a word that I said and ought not to have said ten years ago; — the most ordinary little mistakes, even my own past thoughts to myself about the merest trifles. They are always making me shiver.

The best education is to be had at a price, as well as the best broadcloth.

I have no ambition to surprise my reader. Castles with unknown passages are not compatible with my homely muse.

On board ship there are many sources of joy of which the land knows nothing. You may flirt and dance at sixty; and if you are awkward in the turn of a valse, you may put it down to the motion of the ship. You need wear no gloves, and may drink your soda-and-brandy without being ashamed of it.

When a man is ill nothing is so important to him as his own illness.