“Solitude, I reflected, is the one deep necessity of the human spirit to which adequate recognition is never given in our codes. It is looked upon as a discipline or penance, but hardly ever as the indispensable, pleasant ingredient it is to ordinary life, and from this want of recognition come half our domestic troubles.”

“If one were given a single window from which to look upon the changing Eastern world, it should face, I think, the road.”

“Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other.”

“Love of learning is a pleasant and universal bond since it deals with what one is and not what one has.”

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure.”

“One life is an absurdly small allowance.”

“Christmas is not an external event at all, but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart.”