His head was an hour-glass; it could stow an idea, but it had to do it a grain at a time, not the whole idea at once.

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them.

Happiness ain't a thing in itself -it's only a contrast with something that ain't pleasant. And so, as soon as the novelty is over and the force of the contrast dulled, it ain't happiness any longer, and you have to get something fresh.

Next you'd see a raft sliding by, away off yonder, and maybe a galoot on it chopping. . . you'd see the ax flash and come down-you don't hear nothing; you see the ax go up again, and by the time it's above the man's head then you hear the k'chunk!-it had took all that time to come over the water.

Necessity is the mother of taking chances.

It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right

Each season brings a world of enjoyment and interest in the watching of its unfolding, its gradual harmonious development, its culminating graces-and just as one begins to tire of it, it passes away and a radical change comes, with new witcheries and new glories in its train.