“It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy.”

“The old grief of the great mystery of human life gradually passes into a quiet, tender joy; in place of the boiling blood of youth there comes a meek serene old age: I bless the daily rising of the sun, and my heart sings to it as it did of old, but now I am more enamored of its setting, its long, oblique rays, and the quiet, gentle, tender memories that accompany them, the dear images from the whole of a long and blessed life--and above it all the truth of God, moving, reconciling, all-forgiving!”

“But it is possible, it is possible: the old grief, by a great mystery of human life, gradually passes into quiet, tender joy; instead of young, ebullient blood comes a mild, serene old age: I bless the sun's rising each day and my heart sings to it as before, but now I love its setting even more, its long slanting rays, and with them quiet, mild, tender memories, dear images from the whole of a long and blessed life--and over all is God's truth, moving, reconciling, all-forgiving!”

“A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live.”

“Maybe life is just a quiet affair, interspersed with moments of great happiness and grief. Maybe it is the quiet that needs to emerge again, to balance the current run of craziness.”

“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.”