A true account of the actual is the rarest poetry, for common sense always takes a hasty and superficial view.

Of all the men who were said to be my contemporaries, it seemed to me that John Brown was the only one who had not died.

What is commonly honored with the name of Friendship is no very profound or powerful instinct. Men do not, after all, love their Friends greatly. I do not often see the farmers made seers and wise to the verge of insanity by their Friendship for one another. They are not often transfigured and translated by love in each other's presence. I do not observe them purified, refined, and elevated by the love of a man.

For an impenetrable shield, stand inside yourself

A man's interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment. [Like they say, 'Every cloud has a silver lining'...so if you are patient, expect, anticipate, look and work for some good to come from the cloud, you will be rewarded eventually!]

What would human life be without forests, those natural cities?