“We are only what we are; not what we would be; nor every thing we hope for. We are but a step in a scale, that reaches further above us than below.”

There is a savor of life and immortality in substantial fare. Like balloons, we are nothing till filled.

I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.

Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses, – for it is a sign of strength to be weak, to know it, and out with it – not in a set way and ostentatiously, though, but incidentally and without premeditation.

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.

Tis no dishonor when he who would dishonor you, only dishonors himself.

Man is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence.

A man of true science… thinks, that by mouthing hard words, he proves that he understands hard things.

Thou hast evoked in me profounder spells than the evoking one, thou face! For me, thou hast uncovered one infinite, dumb, beseeching countenance of mystery, underlying all the surfaces of visible time and space.

Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor

A book in a man’s brain is better off than a book bound in calf – at any rate it is safer from criticism.

No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.

Failure is the true test of greatness

I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Is there some principal of nature which states that we never know the quality of what we have until it is gone?

Stay true to the dreams of thy youth.

Instead of leading to the high places of happiness, from which the world would seem to lie below one, so that one could look down with a sense of exaltation and advantage, and judge and choose and pity.

Music, the greatest good that mortals know and all of heaven we have hear below.

I need to get back to work, patch said. He gave me a once-over that lingered a bit below the hips. Killer skirt. Deadly legs.

If faces were different when lit from above or below — what was a face? What was anything?

If faces were different when lit from above or below — what was a face? What was anything?

When I test I never go right to the limit. Only because when you are below the limit you can go at the same speed all day, and that’s the only way you can be absolutely sure about what you are testing.

I said, ‘Well hopefully you could just call me Aimee. But if you have to describe it, I’m a bilateral below-the-knee amputee.’

Unravel and travel, forward you must go. Don’t look back and dwell on failures past. You don’t need a quote, a false idol or a flow. For one day you will discover, as above so below.