“It was the old New York way...the way people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes", except those who gave rise to them. ”

“Of all the train, none escaped except Wamba, who showed upon the occasion much more courage than those who pretended to greater sense.”

“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.”

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones. ”

“those of us who read because we love it more than anything, who feel about bookstores the way some people feel about jewelers...”

“Considering the notion that the spiritual battlefield is infinitely greater than the physical, perhaps God is more willing to bless with a sort of divine ecstasy those who see the devil as the enemy rather than those who see other people as the enemies.”