She had an immense curiosity about life, and was constantly staring and wondering.

I think patriotism is like charity -- it begins at home.

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.

Live as you like best, and your character will take care of itself. Most things are good for you; the exceptions are very rare.

Everything about Florence seems to be colored with a mild violet, like diluted wine.

The face of nature and civilization in this our country is to a certain point a very sufficient literary field. But it will yield its secrets only to a really grasping imagination. To write well and worthily of American things one need even more than elsewhere to be a master.

Every good story is of course both a picture and an idea, and the more they are interfused the better.