No varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself..

The Christmas season reminds us that a demonstration of religion is always much better than a definition of it...especially in front of the kids. Pe….

Moths, and all sorts of ugly creatures, hover about a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?.

But, for all that, they had a very pleasant walk. The trees were bare of leaves, and the river was bare of water-lilies; but the sky was not bare of ….

It is a long time,' repeated his wife; 'and when is it not a long time? Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.' 'It does not ….

My hair stands on end at the cost and charges of these boys. Why was I ever a father! Why was my father ever a father!.

The persons on whom I have bestowed my dearest love lie deep in their graves; but, although the happiness and delight of my life lie buried there too….

He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and l….

We still leave unblotted in the leaves of our statute book, for the reverence and admiration of successive ages, the just and wholesome law which dec….

The day was made for laziness, and lying on one's back in green places, and staring at the sky till its brightness forced one to shut one's eyes and ….

Château and hut, stone face and dangling figure, the red stain on the stone floor, and the pure water in the village well-thousands of acres of land-….

I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I h….

When she took her opposite place in the carriage corner, the brightness in her face was so charming to behold, that on her exclaiming, "What beautifu….

There are people enough to tread upon me in my lowly state, without my doing outrage to their feelings by possessing learning. Learning ain't for me.….

At last, in the dead of the night, when the street was very still indeed, Little Dorrit laid the heavy head upon her bosom, and soothed her to sleep.….

I cannot help it; reason has nothing to do with it; I love her against reason-but who would as soon love me for my own sake, as she would love the be….

The two commonest mistakes in judgement ... are, the confounding of shyness with arrogance - a very common mistake indeed - and the not understanding….

I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, throug….

"Then idiots talk," said Eugene, leaning back, folding his arms, smoking with his eyes shut, and speaking slightly through his nose, "of Energy. If t….

I will die here where I have walked. And I will walk here, though I am in my grave. I will walk here until the pride of this house is humbled..

Perhaps second-hand cares, like second-hand clothes, come easily off and on..