We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.

Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.

It's not as bad as it sounds.

Fortune knocks at every man's door once in a life, but in a good many cases the man is in a neighboring saloon and does not hear her.

A photograph is a most important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever.

We were surprised how closely the cuckoo imitated the clock-and yet, of course, it could never have heard a clock.

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. Overnight success is a fallacy. It is preceded by a great deal of preparation. Ask any successful person how they came to this point in their lives, and they will have a story to tell.