“Human beings who leave behind them no great achievements, but only a series of small kindnesses, have not had wasted lives”

“Friendships fail some years,blight twists the leaves and the crop is bitter.Frost bites or sudden fire devours:but the root lies sound and waits for better weather or a storm of sleet to scour the branches.Then we shall see another spring:a flare of green flame and flowers burning to fruit along the boughs.”

“After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.”

“You can kid the world, but not your sister.”

“Children and mothers never truly part--Bound in the beating of each other's hearts.”

“No one ever achieved greatness by playing it safe.”

“If you believe that humans are animals, there can be no such thing as the history of humanity, only the lives of particular humans. If we speak of the history of the species at all, it is only to signify the unknowable sum of these lives. As with other animals, some lives are happy, others wretched. None has a meaning that lies beyond itself.”