“Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.”

“If a man has a capacity for great thoughts, he is likely to overtake them before he is decrepit.”

“If a man goes a little too far along a new road, it is usually himself that he harms more than any one else.”

“There is no hour that has not its births of gladness and despair, no morning brightness that does not bring new sickness to desolation as well as new forces to genius and love. There are so many of us, and our lots are so different, what wonder that Nature's mood is often in harsh contrast with the great crisis of our lives?”

“When a homemaking aunt scolds a niece for following her evangelistic passion instead of domestic pursuits, her reply is interesting. First, she clarifies that God's individual call on her doesn't condemn those in more conventional roles. Then, she says she can no more ignore the cry of the lost than her aunt can the cry of her child.”

“Conscience is harder than our enemies, knows more, accuses with more nicety.”

“The wit of a family is usually best received among strangers.”