Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile some have a sad expression some are pensive and diffident others again are plain honest and upright.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.

The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.

Some men are like pyramids, which are very broad where they touch the ground, but grow narrow as they reach the sky.

As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.

The thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

Guilt: it comes in so many subtle forms. It's carbon monoxide for the soul.

He thinks he's comforting a friend after a bad breakup. Little does he know-he's the one who's breaking my heart.

A contented spirit is the sweetness of existence.

Unless you are very rich and very eccentric, you will not enjoy the luxury of a computer in your own home.

The most important business of one generation is the raising of the next generation. Nothing else you do in life will be as deeply satisfying.

The classical example of a successful research programme is Newton's gravitational theory: possibly the most successful research programme ever.

Growing up I didn't want to be an actor. I sort of didn't want to go into the family business; the main reason being there was something I wanted to do far more, which was be an artist.

when I talk about a writing life, I'm talking about a life in which writing is the dominant response to living.

Men who have a lot of charm have it in place of something real that you are eventually going to want from them and find that they do not have.

My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.