A drop of water, if it could write out its own history, would explain the universe to us.

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.

Whatever with the past has gone, The best is always yet to come.

He who plants a tree, plants a hope.

The peach-bud glows, the wild bee hums, and wind-flowers wave in graceful gladness.

Like a plant that starts up in showers and sunshine and does not know which has best helped it to grow, it is difficult to say whether the hard things or the pleasant things did me the most good.

When April steps aside for May, Like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten; Fresh violets open every day: To some new bird each hour we listen.

Some of us must wait for the best human gifts until we come to heavenly places. Our natural desire for musical utterance is perhaps a prophecy that in a perfect world we shall all know how to sing.

Every true friend is a glimpse of God.

I defied the machinery to make me its slave. Its incessant discords could not drown the music of my thoughts if I would let them fly high enough.

The curse of covetousness is that it destroys manhood by substituting money for character.

The real proof that I have tried to love and that people have tried to love me back was never going to fit in a kitchen drawer.

Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction.

She decided that day to study Russian, the language of violence, terror, and absurdity. She knew she would never be bored.

In Illinois, where legislators are paid $45, 000, plus as much as $10, 000 for leadership work, about half are full-time politicians.

I don't really like ska.

The glue that holds all relationships together ... is trust, and trust is based on integrity.

There is no oil so thick as to destroy the imagination.

. . . Harboring an emotion as powerful as gratitude has power of its own.

We're all worth it, man. We're all worth millions of planets and stars and galaxies and universes.