Everything from the little house was in the wagon, except the beds and tables and chairs. They did not need to take these, because Pa could always make new ones.

All I have told is true, but it is not the whole truth.

There is nothing wrong with God's plan that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.

[On dishonesty:] If there were a cry of 'stop thief!' we would all stand still.

The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that "it is better farther on"-- only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.

Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small, but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.

We had no choice. Sadness was a dangerous as panthers and bears. the wilderness needs your whole attention.