Humility is not a weak and timid quality; it must be carefully distinguished from a groveling spirit.

The bosom can ache beneath diamond brooches; and many a blithe heart dances under coarse wool.

Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, as a golden link into the great chain of order.

It is difficult to believe that a true gentleman will ever become a gamester, a libertine, or a sot.

Do not judge from mere appearances.

No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother's love.

Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury.

Pride is the master sin of the devil, and the devil is the father of lies.

Neutral men are the devil's allies.

Goodness consists not in the outward things we do, but in the inward thing we are.

Heaven never defaults. The wicked are sure of their wages, sooner or later.

If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet...maybe we could understand something.

(About parenting:) ... all that tedium, broken up by little spurts of high drama.

It's never safe to be nostalgic about something until you're absolutely certain there's no chance of its coming back

The emotional build-up and anticipation if you travel at Christmas can make it harder to enjoy a trip. I think sometimes it is better to travel outside of conventional holiday times for that reason.

The vast majority of our troubles and heartaches would simply vanish from view if only we could remember - before we act - that we are made victims mostly by our own tendencies.

She was everything he wanted from his life, the very measure of his dreams.

After university, I got a job sub-editing and for years I was a literary editor.

I'll be the light in the window.

Life is a series of tasks that you absolutely must get done before they don't matter any more.

I have drunk ale from the Country of the Young / And weep because I know all things now.