I've done my best, and I begin to understand what is meant by 'the joy of strife'. Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.

No one can be free who has a thousand ancestors.

Behind them in the garden the little stone house brooded among the shadows. It was lonely but not forsaken. It had not yet done with dreams and laughter and the joy of life; there were to be future summers for the little stone house; meanwhile, it could wait. And over the river in purple durance the echoes bided their time.

...a little "appreciation" sometimes does quite as much good as all the conscientious "bringing up" in the world.

Whenever you looked forward to anything pleasant you were sure to be more or less disappointed . . . perhaps that is true. But there is a good side to it too. The bad things don't always come up to your expectations either . . . they nearly always turn out ever so much better than you think.

I wish I were dead, or that it were tomorrow night,' groaned Phil.

I can't cheer up — I don't want to cheer up. It's nicer to be miserable!