Money was their God; work their religion.

The wages of sin are the hardest debts on earth to pay, and they are always collected at inconvenient times and unexpected places.

I write as the birds sing, because I must, and usually from the same source of inspiration.

The Cardinal ... It was as if a pulsing heart of flame passed by when he came winging through the orchard.

I know men and women. An honourable man is an honourable man, and a liar is a liar; both are born and not made. One cannot change to the other any more than that same old leopard can change its spots. After a man tells a woman the first untruth of that sort, the others come piling thick, fast, and mountain high.

In the economy of nature nothing is ever lost. I cannot belive that the soul of man shall prove the one exception

What you are lies with you. If you are lazy, and accept your lot, you may live in it. If you are willing to work, you can write your name anywhere you choose, among the only ones who live beyond the grave in this world, the people who write books that help, make exquisite music, carve statues, paint pictures, and work for others. Never mind the calico dress, and the coarse shoes. Work at you books, and before long you will hear yesterday's tormentors boasting that they were once classmates of yours.