He'd always had a quickening of the heart when he crossed into Arizona and beheld the cactus country. This was as the desert should be, this was the desert of the picture books, with the land unrolled to the farthest distant horizon hills, with saguaro standing sentinel in their strange chessboard pattern, towering supinely above the fans of ocotillo and brushy mesquite.

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!"

When my father didn't have my hand, he had my back.

Sometimes the poorest woman leaves her children the richest inheritance.

Neither fish, flesh nor good red herring.

Sometimes me think, 'What is friend?' Then me say, ‘Friend is someone to share the last cookie with.’

I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects.