Dispatch is the soul of business, and nothing contributes more to dispatch than method.

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.

Music is the soul of language.

Real geniuses would like that what we think of ourselves is true.

A man from the west will fight over three things: water, women and gold, and usually in that order.

We have a responsibility to stand watch over one another, we are watchers, all of us, watchers, guarding against the darkness.

I do not allow others to influence my thinking unless it is positive or uplifting.

Working at what you enjoy is far more important than what you're working at.

Unless I am very much mistaken...I AM very much mistaken...!

And when neither their property nor honour is touched, the majority of men live content, and he has only to contend with the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease in many ways.

I don't understand the notion that modern farming is anything do to with nature. It's a pretty gross interference with nature.

A guest at a dinner party observed the strange expression on James Thurber's face. 'Don't be concerned,' said Thurber's wife. 'He's writing.'