It is remarkable what fine hands men of genius write, even when they are as awkward in all other uses of the hand as a cow with a musket.

I don't pretend to any exemption from the general lot of parental delusion-I mean that like most other parents I see my child through an atmosphere which illuminates, magnifies, and at the same time refines the object to a degree that amounts to a delusion.

February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lake again.

The death of my mother permanently affects my happiness, more even than I should have anticipated, though I always knew that I must feel the separation at first as a severe wrench. But I did not apprehend, during her life, to what a degree she prevented me from feeling heart-solitude.

I very much wish that some day or other you may have time to learn Greek, because that language is an idea. Even a little of it is like manure to the soil of the mind, and makes it bear finer flowers.

avarice is especially, I suppose, a disease of the imagination.

I have a strong opinion that a genuine love of books is one of the greatest blessings of life for man and woman.