Thrift is the really romantic thing; economy is more romantic than extravagance... thrift is poetic because it is creative; waste is unpoetic because it is waste... if a man could undertake to make use of all the things in his dustbin, he would be a broader genius than Shakespeare.

Human anger is a higher thing than what is called divine discontent. For you must be angry with something; but you can be discontented with everything.

CIVILISATION is not to be judged by the rapidity of communication, but by the value of what is communicated.

The whole curse of the last century has been what is called the Swing of the Pendulum; that is, the idea that Man must go alternately from one extreme to the other. It is a shameful and even shocking fancy; it is the denial of the whole dignity of the mankind. When Man is alive he stands still. It is only when he is dead that he swings.

The historic glory of America lies in the fact that it is the one nation that was founded like a church. That is, it was founded on a faith that was not merely summed up after it had exited, but was defined before it existed.

Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.

A nation that has nothing but its amusements will not be amused for long.