Character shows itself apart from genius as a special thing. The first point of measurement of any man is that of quality.

The Englishman's strong point is his vigorous insularity; that of the American his power of adaptation. Each of these attitudes has its perils. The Englishman stands firmly on his feet, but he who merely does this never advances. The American's disposition is to step forward even at the risk of a fall.

Travelers find virtue in a seeming minority in all other countries, and forget that they have left it in a minority at home.

After all, when a thought takes one's breath away, a lesson on grammar seems an impertinence.

Fields are won by those who believe in the winning.

Nothing can hide from me the conviction that an immortal soul needs for its sustenance something more than visiting, and gardening, and novel-reading, and crochet-needle, and the occasional manufacture of sponge cake.

Many persons sigh for death when it seems far off, but the inclination vanishes when the boat upsets, or the locomotive runs off the track, or the measles set it.