The worse my drawings were, the more beautiful did the originals appear.

To repay evils with kindness is the religion I was taught to practise, and this will forever be my rule.

The fact is I am growing old too fast, alas! I feel it, and yet work I will, and may God grant me life to see the last plate of my mammoth work finished.

All trembling, I reached the Falls of Niagara, and oh, what a scene! My blood shudders still, although I am not a coward, at the grandeur of the Creators power; and I gazed motionless on this new display of the irresistible force of one of His elements.

If I can procure three hundred good substantial names of persons, or bodies, or institutions, I cannot fail to do well for my family, although I must abandon my life to its success, and undergo many sad perplexities and perhaps never see again my own beloved America.

During all these years there existed within me a tendency to follow Nature in her walks.

In my deepest troubles, I frequently would wrench myself from the persons around me and retire to some secluded part of our noble forests.