“It is no merit in the sorrowful that they weep, or to the oppressed and smothering that they gasp and struggle, not to me, that I must speak for the oppressed – who cannot speak for themselves.”

If we let our friend become cold and selfish and exacting without a remonstrance, we are no true lover, no true friend.

Eyes that have never wept cannot comprehend sorrow.

If I am to write, I must have a room to myself, which shall be my room.

Your little child is the only true democrat.

True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love’s sake have in them a poetry that is immortal.

The world has been busy for some centuries in shutting and locking every door through which a woman could step into wealth, except the door of marriage.

In the gates of eternity the black hand and the white hand hold each other with equal clasp.

I make no manner of doubt that you threw a very diamond of truth at me, though you see it hit me so directly in the face that it wasn’t exactly appreciated, at first.

The heart has no tears to give,–it drops only blood, bleeding itself away in silence.

Treat ’em like dogs, and you’ll have dogs’ works and dogs’ actions. Treat ’em like men, and you’ll have men’s works.

My vocation to preach on paper.

By what strange law of mind is it that an idea long overlooked, and trodden under foot as a useless stone, suddenly sparkles out in new light, as a discovered diamond?

It’s a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.

Sweet souls around us watch us still, press nearer to our side; Into our thoughts, into our prayers, with gentle helpings glide.

Dogs can bear more cold than human beings, but they do not like cold any better than we do; and when a dog has his choice, he will very gladly stretch himself on a rug before the fire for his afternoon nap.

A woman’s health is her capital.

It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.

Many who confess their venial sins out of custom and concern for order but without thought of amendment remain burdened with them for their whole life and thus lose many spiritual benefits and advantages.

My poor sight gives me an advantage. I can’t see the people in the audience who are scratching their heads while I am lost in my role and giving everything I have to the drama.

Sometimes, you’re the person taking advantage of yourself.

Cunning cheats itself wholly, and other people partially.

All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.

While formal schooling is an important advantage, it is not a guarantee of success nor is its absence a fatal handicap.

Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.