Buy good books, and read them; the best books are the commonest, and the last editions are always the best, if the editors are not blockheads.

As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless.

The mere brute pleasure of reading - the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

You must look into people, as well as at them.

A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

It takes us away from the world of strangersTo a new world of laughter With time the whirled churning deep insideAnd why does the smile fades, as age passes?

Congress is headed in the wrong direction with this bill which removes any and all incentives from the food industry to improve their products for children.

We can't simply scare people into giving up their rights, on the basis, oh, this protects us from terrorism.

Ah, when shall come love's courage to be strong! Tell me, O Lord--tell me, O Lord, how long Are we to keep Christ writhing on the cross!

Giuseppe Continenza is a monster guitarist

To understand is to possess the thing understood, first by sympathy and then by intelligence.

I know for a fact that - it's just the way our biases work now in the industry of literature, but certainly a short story collection does not receive the same kind of attention as a novel.

Dolly is a legend. Jessica is so beautiful. I take it as a big compliment when people put me beside them. About being compared to Dolly Parton & Jessica Simpson on the Idol red carpet.

I like exploring both the light parts and the dark parts of a single person. And all of those shades tend to come out most acutely in stories about families.

I'm a very serious person, but I don't take myself very seriously and I would rather laugh all day than argue.