The inhabitants of earth behold commonly but the dark and shadowy under side of heaven's pavement; it is only when seen at a favorable angle in the horizon, morning or evening, that some faint streaks of the rich lining of the clouds are revealed.

All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be.

When it's time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.

When the reptile is attacked at one mouth of his burrow, he shows himself at another.

There is always some accident in the best things, whether thoughts or expressions or deeds. The memorable thought, the happy expression, the admirable deed are only partly ours.

An ordinary man will work every day for a year at shoveling dirt to support his body, or a family of bodies; but he is an extraordinary man who will work a whole day in a year for the support of his soul. Even the priests, men of God, so called, for the most part confess that they work for the support of the body.

Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.