I fear, the inevitable conclusion we must all come to is, that in the world happiness is quite indefinable. We can no more grasp it than we can grasp the sun in the sky or the moon in the water. We can feel it interpenetrating our whole being with warmth and strength; we can see it in a pale reflection shining elsewhere; or in its total absence, we, walking in darkness, learn to appreciate what it is by what it is not.

never was there a thoroughly noble nature without some romance in it.

absence ... smothers into decay a rootless fancy but often nourishes the least seed of a true affection into full-flowering love.

Now, I have nothing to say against uncles in general. They are usually very excellent people, and very convenient to little boys and girls.

Be loving, and you will never want for love; be humble, and you will never want for guiding.

we are so scornful when we are young!

There are no judgments so harsh as those of the erring, the inexperienced, and the young.