“Any theologian understands martyrdom, but only the martyr experiences the fire.”

“The only people who make any sense in the world are those who know that whatever happens to them has its roots in what they are.”

“You are like a fire: you warm me.”

“Wisdom may be rented...on the experience of other people, but we buy it at an inordinate price before we make it our own forever.”

“Education is a great shield against experience. It offers so much, ready-made and all from the best shops, that there's a temptation to miss your own life in pursuing the life of your betters.”

“But when mother died, Caroline was twelve, and in that queer time between childhood and nubile girlhood, when some girls seem to be wise without experience, and perhaps more clear-headed then they will be again until after their menopause.”

“But the character of the music emphasized the tale as allegory--humorous, poignant, humane allegory--disclosing the metamorphosis of life itself, in which man moves from confident inexperience through the bitterness of experience, toward the rueful wisdom of self-knowledge.”