It is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realise the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.

But when a man suspects any wrong it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself. And much this way it was with me. I said nothing and tried to think nothing.

And what is it, thought I, after all! It’s only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin.

Charity, like poetry, should be cultivated, if only for its being graceful.

Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor

If you can get nothing better out of the world, get a good dinner out of it, at least.

There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.