... no problem except old age ever vanquished my mother.

I never can see why they make such a fuss and get so frightened because wimmen does a thing or two now they usedn't to. Nothing short of a earthquake can make them not men an' wimmmen, an' that's the main thing.

Grandpa ... was ever ready to cheer and help me, ever sure that I was a remarkable specimen. He was a dear old man who asked little from life and got less.

Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings.

All is egotism. The only people whose mainspring is not egotism are the dead and perhaps idiots.

there is a law of retribution in all things, direct or indirect, visible or invisible.

When all is said and done, friendship is the only trustworthy fabric of the affections. So-called LOVE is a delirious inhuman state of mind: when hot it substitutes indulgence for fair play; when cold it is cruel, but friendship is warmth in cold, firm ground in a bog.