This is Democratic bedrock: we don't let people lie in the ditch and drive past and pretend not to see them dying. Here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota, if your neighbor's car won't start, you put on your parka and get the jumper cables out and deliver the Sacred Spark that starts their car. Everybody knows this. The logical extension of this spirit is social welfare and the myriad government programs with long dry names all very uninteresting to you until you suddenly need one.

When you come to expect humor of people, you will never get it.

He was admired for never being at a loss for words and never wasting any either.

... I never was one to get upset about a few scratches on a motor vehicle, it is meant to be used, not saved.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.

Being Lutheran, Mother believed that self-pity is a deadly sin and so is nostalgia, and she had no time for either

We come from people who brought us up to believe that life is a struggle, and if you should feel really happy, be patient: this will pass.