'What is the Unpardonable Sin' asked the lime-burner 'It is a sin that grew within my own breast', replied Ethan Brand 'The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God'.

The calmer thought is not always the right thought, just as the distant view is not always the truest view

It [the scarlet letter] had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.

Technologies of easy travel give us wings; they annihilate the toil and dust of pilgrimage; they spiritualize travel! Transition being so facile, what can be any man's inducement to tarry in one spot?

To do nothing is the way to be nothing.

Happiness is not found in things you possess, but in what you have the courage to release.

Romance and poetry, ivy, lichens and wallflowers need ruin to make them grow.