Giving a party is like having a baby: its conception is more fun than its completion; and once you have begun it, it is almost impossible to stop.

there is practically no difference at all between a family and a nation, except the difference in size. A family is a nation seen through the wrong end of a telescope; a nation is a family seen through the right end of a telescope, and I don't believe it is possible to achieve a happy and successful family life, or a happy and successful national life, unless we bear this simple fact in mind and behave accordingly.

It seemed to her sometimes that the most important thing about marriage was not a home or children or a remedy against sin, but simply there being always an eye to catch.

how much of the fun of parenthood lay in watching the children remake, with delighted wonder, one's own discoveries.

Constructive destruction is one of the most delightful employments in the world, and in civilized life the opportunities for it are only too rare.

to achieve unity without uniformity is the whole essence of the democratic way of life.

Private opinion creates public opinion. Public opinion overflows eventually into national behavior as things are arranged at present, can make or mar the world. That is why private opinion, and private behavior, and private conversation are so terrifyingly important.