But alas for the dreams that round us play! / For the plans of mortal making! / And alas for the false and fickle day / That looked so fair at waking!

Never is true love blind, but rather brings an added light.

All the great blessings of my life are present in my thoughts today

And though hard be the task, keep a stiff upper lip.

Sometimes, I think the things we see are shadows of the things to be; that what we plan we build

And never since harvests were ripened, / Or laborers born, / Have men gathered figs of the thistle, / Or grapes of the thorn!

Only yield when you must, never "give up the ship," but fight on to the last "with a stiff upper lip!

Women are only told that they resemble angels when they are young and beautiful; consequently, it is their persons, not their virtues, that procure them homage.

Come up, April, though the valley, / In your robes of beauty drest, / Come and wake your flowery children / From their wintry beds of rest.

There are eyes half defiant, Half meek and compliant; Black eyes, with a wondrous, witching charm To bring us good or to work with harm.

Ah, there are moments for us here, when, seeing Life's inequalities, and woe, and care, The burdens laid upon our mortal being Seem heavier than the human heart can bear.

My post-child period resulted in one instant change: I write shorter books for kids.

It's not really the life of cooking that's hard - it's what you make of it and what level you push yourself to.

The heart the heart the heart how it thrives on hate.

Read heavily in the area where you want to write. Be aware of what's selling and what's doing well but don't try to write to market trends; they are fleeting.

I like a calm life where nobody bothers me.

We don't want to limit ourselves to any specific sound like that was before when we were brought up in classical music.

I had no difficulty as Secretary of Defense moving from the Bush administration to the Obama administration.

The only people who need to be "giving back" are thieves, criminals and corrupt individuals that are taking things that are not theirs.

Sentences can save us. Who could ask for anything more?

Anecdotes generate questions, not answers.