The other thing that happened in 1883 was my reading of Thoreau's Walden.

I was in the Square at the time. The crowd was a most good-humoured, easy going, smiling crowd; but presently it was transformed. A regiment of mounted police came cantering up.

And where there had been only jeers or taunts at first, crowds came to listen with serious and sympathetic mien.

Let your mind be quiet, realizing the beauty of the world, and the immense boundless treasures that it holds.

IN April 1882 my father died; and I was at once whirled out of my land of dreams into a very different sphere.

Remember, the serpent is still living in the Garden of Eden. Only the heterosexual couple was expelled.

We lived within two hundred yards of the sea, and its voice was in our ears night and day.

I saw deep in the eyes of the animals, the human soul look out upon me.

Motherhood is, after all, woman's great and incomparable work.

What is the good of life if its chief element, and that which must always be its chief element, is odious? No, the only true economy is to arrange so that your daily labor shall be itself a joy.

I might have simply settled down into an armchair literary life. I really don't know exactly why I didn't.

A traditional Englishman drinks tea to the point where his blood has long-since been replaced with an infusion of Ceylon, Assam, and Darjeeling.

In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible, except with the passing of time.

We have not ceased to insist that an Islam of tolerance is advantageous to all Muslims, for the Afghans and the whole world and we will always defend it.

My whole life has largely been one of surprises.

Defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it.

Maybe every family is dysfunctional, and that's the only thing in common throughout the world.

The most touching thing that anyone can say to me is that I have done something beautiful for the community.

And the earth died screaming, while I lay dreaming.

The more gifted and talkative one's characters are, the greater the chances of their resembling the author in tone or tint of mind.

Even when I was little, people would always ask me if I wanted to be a movie star, and I would always say, "No, I just want to be an actor."