I am not an angel," I asserted; "and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.

The idea of seeing the sea - of being near it - watching its changes by sunrise, sunset, moonlight, and noonday - in calm, perhaps in storm - fills and satisfies my mind.

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.

Oh madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!

Good-night, my-" He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me.

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.

The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed.

Better to be without logic than without feeling.

God did not give me my life to throw it away.

What you want to ignite in others must first burn inside yourself.

Love is happiness, but only when you believe it will last forever. Even though every time it turns out to be a lie, it’s only faith that gives love its strength and its joy.

It always turns out this way: at first people idolize you, swear to be your faithful friend forever and then spit in your tea and in your soul, too.

If home isn't a place, what is it?''A feeling.

It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.

It wasn't until 1998 that I ever seriously thought about running for office. And I didn't make up my mind to do that until 1999, and then I ran for the Senate. It was really hard for me.

People say it takes a village to raise a child. People ask me how my daughter is doing. She’s only doing good if your daughter’s doing good. We’re all one family.

Home-made bread rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with olive oil, shared-with a flask of wine-between working people, can be more convivial than any feast.

I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing; But, och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!

A clear right answer and the opportunity to change the options? This is the chooser’s dream.