She had come to letters late in her life, and though she had mastered them, they had never become her good friends.

When has been disappointed for so long, hope becomes the enemy. One cannot be dashed to the earth unless one is lifted first, and I learned to avoid hope.

It was as if I had been following a narrow trail, and had suddenly realized that at any time I could leave it and strike out cross-country.

There was a danger in asking too much of a child, but the danger of asking too little was almost equal.

I will always take your part, Bee. Right or wrong. That is why you must always take care to be right, lest you make your father a fool.

As dye soaks fibres, drawn into them to change their colour forever, so does a memory, stinging or sweet, change the fibre of a man’s character.

I was lonely, and a lonely heart has hungers that can overpower both common sense and dignity.

...there was no point in sighing after what I could not have. It only distracted me from what I did have.

...once students have been taught that learning is tedious, difficult, and useless, they will never learn another lesson.

How often does a man know, without question, that he has done well? I do not think it happens often in anyone's life, and it becomes even rarer once one has a child.

Stop your whining. If you are frightened, be silent. Whining is for prey. It attracts predators. And you are not prey.

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.

This time as we ascend, I watch the world sinking below us. I watch the way the city fades into sand that gets washed by the ocean.

Were a man to order his life by the rules of true reason a frugal substance joined to a contented mind is for him great riches.

The animation of the canvas is one of the hardest problems of painting.

The voice of every kid hooked on drugs, alcohol or the occult joins the sad chorus "Not me! I didn't think it could ever happen to me. I was sure I could handle it.

In fact, NSF was the leading successful efforts to improve U.S. math and science education long before the Department of Education was even created.

It is not a sin to introduce a personal bias that can be recognized and discounted. The sin in historical composition is the organization of the story in such a way that bias cannot be recognized.

I am infinitely strange to myself.

As for opinions, if they're not pleasant they'd better be kept to yourself. I learned that early in life and forget it every day.

Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.