How close beneath the surface, even in the happiest family, is the chronic grievance! I sometimes think that tinderboxes are inert and powder kegs mere talcum compared to the explosive possibilities in the most commoplace domestic situation.

democracy produces both heroes and villains, but it differs from a fascist state in that it does not produce a hero who is a villain.

it is a waste of time to ask more of people than they have to give.

It is impossible to betray another man's child - for whatever reason - without also betraying one's own. To do less than justice to another man's child, no matter who that man is, is to impair by that much the chances one's own children have for a life of meaning and purpose.

The soup, thin and dark and utterly savorless, tasted as if it had been drained out of the umbrella stand.

Father's snoring grows to sound increasingly like a vacuum cleaner in heat.

Bulldogs have been known to fall on their swords when confronted by my superior tenacity.