When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?" "They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now." But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods,… She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

Far worst of all, the fever had settled in Mary's eyes, and Mary was blind.

We'd never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started.

We heap up around us things that we do not need as the crow makes piles of glittering pebbles.

The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they're organized for.

The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.

Every job is good if you do your best and work hard. A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have nothing to do but smell.