“The Mississippi River towns are comely, clean, well built, and pleasing to the eye, and cheering to the spirit. The Mississippi Valley is as reposeful as a dreamland, nothing worldly about it . . . nothing to hang a fret or a worry upon.”

“Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above, it was green with vegetation, and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.”

“But as soon as one is at rest in this world off he goes on something else to worry about.”

“The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

“There is nothing in the world like persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus.”

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

“I couldn't bear to think about it; and yet, somehow, I couldn't think about nothing else.”