Each wrong act brings with it its own anesthetic, dulling the conscience and blinding it against further light, and sometimes for years.

It is a common delusion that you make things better by talking about them.

Life, for all its agonies...is exciting and beautiful, amusing and artful and endearing...and whatever is to come after it -- we shall not have this life again.

So they left the subject and played croquet, which is a very good game for people who are annoyed with one another, giving many opportunities for venting rancor.

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

Once you get to know your neighbors, you are no longer free, you are all tangled up, you have to stop and speak when you are out and you never feel safe when you are in.

The great and recurrent question about Abroad is, is it worth the trouble of getting there?

Human passions against eternal laws -- that is the everlasting conflict.

To lunch with the important ... that should be the daily goal of those for whom life is not a playground but a ladder.

The impulse to ask questions is among the more primitive human lusts.

As to the family, I have never understood how that fits in with the other ideals -- or, indeed, why it should be an ideal at all.

The power and magnetic pull of your vision is hinged on the purpose and passion behind it and, most importantly, the intent.

Gratitude is only expressed and appreciated in proportion to your understanding of grace.

Our most challenging and painful experiences become our credentials for helping people.

The secret is to know how to lie" he used to say, " and to know when someone's lying to you". His father, Steve eventually decided, must have known how to lie.

It is an apple full of worms compared to an apple that's fresh and delicious.

The lips are closed, for the dancer has plenty of other voices at his service.

I'm petite, only 5 feet tall, so occasionally I'd get an audition for a small person. But small people and little people are technically different.

History is, as we know, written by the winners.

Over the last 10 years, women have stalled out at the top.