It is an uneasy lot at best, to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this great spectacle of life and never to be liberated from a small hungry shivering self.

To the receptive soul the river of life pauseth not, nor is diminished.

In the ages since Adam's marriage, it has been good for some men to be alone, and for some women also.

Ignorance is not so damnable as humbug, but when it prescribes pills it may happen to do more harm.

It is always good to know, if only in passing, charming human beings. It refreshes one like flowers and woods and clear brooks.

There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles, from the desperate to the sheepish; but there is one order of beauty which seems made to turn the heads not only of men, but of all intelligent mammals, even of women. It is a beauty like that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling noises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and to engage in conscious mischief — a beauty with which you can never be angry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the state of mind into which it throws you.

The human soul is hospitable, and will entertain conflicting sentiments and contradictory opinions with much impartiality.