“One cannot in the nature of things expect a little tree that has been turned into a club to put forth leaves.”

“The one thing to remember about an adventure is that if it turns out the way you expect it to, it has not been an adventure at all.”

“things cannot be expected to turn up of themselves. We must in a measure assist to turn them up”

“Leave it to a New Yorker to put a bunch of trees in one place and call it wonderful.”

“Louisa beheld the grounds and house with the calm pleasure of one who has seen nothing, been nowhere, expects everything, and has little imagination.”

“Something in one's heart takes fright, not at the thought of growing old, not at feeling one's youth used up in this mineral universe, but at the thought that far away the whole world is ageing. The trees have brought forth their fruit; the grain has ripened in the fields; the women have bloomed in their loveliness. But the season is advancing and one must make haste; but the season is advancing and still one cannot leave; but the season is advancing...and other men will glean the harvest.”