Rhetoric takes no real account of the art in literature and morality takes no account of the art in life.

Any euphemism ceases to be euphemistic after a time and the true meaning begins to show through. It's a losing game, but we keep on trying.

Man is, perhaps, no more prone to war than he used to be and no more inclined to commit other evil deeds. But a given amount of ill will or folly will go further than it used to.

If we are deprived of hope as well as fear, we are compensated by being given an almost endless patience for enduring or simply for waiting.

Man is the only one in whom the instinct of life falters long enough to enable it to ask the question "Why?

If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food, either.

The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February.