Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.

To believe yourself brave is to be brave; it is the one only essential thing.

The proverb says, "Born lucky, always lucky," and I am very superstitious. As a small boy I was notoriously lucky. It was usual for one or two of our lads (per annum) to get drowned in the Mississippi or in Bear Creek, but I was pulled out in a 2/3 drowned condition 9 times before I learned to swim, and was considered to be a cat in disguise.

Human beings seem to be a poor invention. If they are the noblest works of God where is the ignoblest?

Now I can only pray that there may be a God -- and a heaven -- or something better.

Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead.

Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute.