My childhood was full of deep sorrows - colic, whooping-cough, dread of ghosts, hell, Satan, and a Deity in the sky who was angry when I ate too much plumcake.

Hobbies are apt to run away with us, you know; it doesn't do to be run away with. We must keep the reins.

the usual attitude of Christians towards Jews is - I hardly know whether to say more impious or more stupid, when viewed in the light of their professed principles. ... They hardly know Christ was a Jew. And I find men, educated, supposing that Christ spoke Greek. To my feeling, this deadness to the history which has prepared half our world for us, this inability to find interest in any form of life that is not clad in the same coat-tails and flounces as our own, lies very close to the worst kind of irreligion.

It is pleasant to have a kind word now and then when one is not near enough to have a kind glance or a hearty shake by the hand.

One can say everything best over a meal.

I've never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about with them.

The troublesome ones in a family are usually either the wits or the idiots.