I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

We are ever dying to one world and being born into another.

Some show their kindness to the poor by employing them in their kitchens. Would they not be kinder if they employed themselves there?

On the whole, Chaucer impresses us as greater than his reputation, and not a little like Homer and Shakespeare, for he would haveheld up his head in their company.

Nature confounds her summer distinctions at this season. The heavens seem to be nearer the earth. The elements are less reserved and distinct. Water turns to ice, rain to snow. The day is but a Scandinavian night. The winter is an arctic summer.

It is reasonable that a man should be something worthier at the end of the year than he was at the beginning.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.