It would repel me less to be a hangman than a soldier, because the one is obliged to put to death only criminals sentenced by the law, but the other kills honest men who like himself bathe in innocent blood at the bidding of some superior.

The Fates, like an absent-minded printer, seldom allow a single line to stand perfect and unmarred.

Spirituality lies in regarding existence merely as a vehicle for contemplation, and contemplation merely a vehicle for joy.

It would be hard to conceive a system of instincts more nicely adjusted, where the constituents should represent or support one another better. The husband has an interest in protecting the wife, she in serving the husband. The weaker gains in authority and safety, the wilder and more unconcerned finds a help-mate at home to take thought of his daily necessities. Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality.

The same battle in the clouds will be known to the deaf only as lightning and to the blind only as thunder.

The word experience is like a shrapnel shell, and bursts into a thousand meanings.

Nothing so much enhances a good as to make sacrifices for it.