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.

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

It's just as important to marry the right life as the right person.

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.

swans ... always look as though they'd just been reading their own fan-mail.

The worst of gardening is that it's so full of metaphors one hardly knows where to begin.