"Like the sweet melody which faintly lingers Upon the wind-harp's strings at close of day, When gently touch'd by evening's dewy fingers It breathes a low and melancholy lay; So the calm voice of sympathy meseemeth; And while its magic spell is round me cast, My spirit in its cloistered silence dreameth, And vaguely blends the future with the past."

"Number the riches by thy memory hoarded, Relics of joys thy by-past years have known, — How many real things has life afforded? How much true light was o'er thy pathway thrown?"

"Weep not for those Who sink within the arms of death Ere yet the chilling wintry breath Of sorrow o'er them blows; But weep for them who here remain, The mournful heritors of pain, Condemn'd to see each bright joy fade, And mark grief's melancholy shade Flung o'er Hope's fairest rose."

"— The grave's dark portal Soon shuts this world of shadows from our view, Then shall we grasp realities immortal, If to the truth within us we are true."

"The gathered rose, and the stolen heart, Can charm but for a day."

"The charm of eloquence, — the skill To wake each secret string, And from the bosom's chords at will Life's mournful music bring, — The o'ermastering strength of mind, which sway The haughty and the free, Whose might earth's mightiest one obeys, These, — these were given to thee."

"Oh never yet did Peace her chaplet twine, To lay upon base Mammon’s sordid shrine, Where Earth’s most precious things are bought and sold; Thrown on that pile, the "pearl of price" would be Despised, because unfit for merchantry."

"Sorrow treads heavily, and leaves behind A deep impression e’en when she departs; While joy trips by, with steps light as the wind, And scarcely leaves a trace upon our hearts Of the faint footfalls, only this is sure — In this world nought, save suffering can endure."

"So far what we’re doing here is pure science. We’re learning facts about the universe without worrying what they’re good for."

"Something in his mind had snapped and he began collecting comics."

"Someday I'll be sad again I will come back to you again, Christ... I'm still going to cry so hard, That through my tears I will see you, Christ... And such great mourning I will complain to you, Christ... That my spirit will kneel before You And then my heart will break Christ..."

"Life is torture. It's best not to be born at all. But this luck is one in a thousand."

"Autumn begins with mimosas Golden, fragile and nice It's you, you're that girl Which looked out into the street towards me. The hall smelled of your letters, when I came back from school out of breath, and on the streets in light autumn bright angels flew after me."

"Everyone kiss my ass."

"Please! Leave me for a second life, Like for a second year in the same class."

"When Russians were growing up in Soviet times, they thought Chukovsky’s story about the cockroach ruling over all the other animals was nonsense, but now in adulthood, they recognize that the Soviet children’s writer was really a prophet."

"Science is for the laboratory. Other men, who stand alone and face the elemental forces of nature, know that science as a shining, world-conquering hero, is a myth. Science lives in concrete structures full of bright factory toys, insulated from the earth's great forces. The priesthood of this new cult are seldom called upon to stand and face the onslaught."

"There is a mirror in my room Less like a mirror than a tomb, There are so many ghosts that pass Across the surface of the glass."

"I shall not be afraid any more, Either by night or day; What would it profit me to be afraid With you away? * * * For there is only sorrow in my heart; There is no room for fear. But how I wish I were afraid again, My dear, my dear!"

"St. Brigid, please keep My babies asleep!"

"When people inquire I always just state: "I have four nice children and hope to have eight.""

"Deborah danced, when she was two, As buttercups and daffodils do; Spirited, frail, naïvely bold, Her hair a ruffled crest of gold."

"For life seems only a shuddering breath, A smothered, desperate cry, And things have a terrible permanence When people die."

"My heart shall keep the child I knew, When you are really gone from me, And spend its life remembering you As shells remember the lost sea."

"The plural of goose is geese, But the plural of moose ain't meese, And the plural of noose ain't neese, But the plural of goose — is geese."

"Now, children, you must never laugh At the stately tall giraffe. She's sensitive, as you can tell; But, my dears, she kicks like hell!"

"In this mechanic age the skunk Inspires no terror — he's the bunk; For people in cars, Returning from bars, Quite frequently flatten the skunk."

"The sacred ape, now, children, see. He's searching for the modest flea. If he should turn around we'd find He has no hair on his behind."

"And here’s the happy, bounding flea — You cannot tell the he from she. The sexes look alike, you see; But she can tell, and so can he."

"The little penguins look alike Even as Ike resembles Mike. They are so gentle and so nice God keeps these little birds on ice."

"The cow's a gentle, patient soul, With milk she fills the flowing bowl. She's kind to babies, mean to flies, She has the most coquettish eyes."

"Smilingly, out of my pain, I have woven a little song; You may take it away with you. I shall not sing it again."

"I sing of little loves that glow Like tapers shining through the rain. Of little loves that break themselves Like moths against the window-pane."

"If I live till my fighting days are done I must fasten my armour on my eldest son."

"Here, Cyprian, is my jeweled looking-glass, My final gift to bind my final vow: I cannot see myself as I once was; I would not see myself as I am now."

"I’m sorry you are wiser, I’m sorry you are taller; I liked you better foolish, And I liked you better smaller."

"Housewives more than any other race deserve well-furnished minds. They have to live in them such a lot of the time. ... We who belong to that profession hold the fate of the world in our hands."

"Sin has always been an ugly word, but it has been made so in a new sense over the last half-century. It has been made not only ugly but passé. People are no longer sinful, they are only immature or underprivileged or frightened or, more particularly, sick."

"Wifehood, the house, a family; they are woman’s traditional concern and each in its way represents one of the other great three—faith, hope, charity—which St. Paul sets down as the virtues of earth. (For how can one rear a family without faith? Or build a roof without hope? Or remain a proper wife without charity?) They are life’s vital elements and no ordered world can endure without them."

"Meek-eyed parents hasten down the ramps To greet their offspring, terrible from camps."

"Ah, snug lie those that slumber Beneath Conviction’s roof. Their floors are sturdy lumber, Their windows weatherproof. But I sleep cold forever, And cold sleep all my kind, For I was born to shiver In the draft from an open mind."

"Gossip isn’t scandal and it’s not merely malicious. It’s chatter about the human race by lovers of the same."

"Compromise? Of course we compromise. But compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. It is what makes nations great and marriages happy and Spruce Manor the pleasant place it is."

"I’ll read as I please—a spot of science fiction, a taste of Jane Austen. Mark Twain and Keats and Agatha Christie shall sit cheek by jowl on my night table. And I’ll make it a point of honor to finish no book I’m not enjoying, also to skip as much and as often as I like. If I want to peek to see how a novel comes out, I’ll feel perfectly justified. I’ll go to Plato when I’m in the mood and the newest thriller when I’m not. For again, the little vices bring relaxation; and a bit of trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides that necessary roughage in the literary diet."

"God knows that a mother needs fortitude and courage and tolerance and flexibility and patience and firmness and nearly every other brave aspect of the human soul."

"Men may be allowed romanticism; women, who can create life in their own bodies, dare not indulge in it."

"Always on Monday morning the Press reports God as revealed to His vicars in various guises— Benevolent, stormy, patient, or out of sorts. But only God knows which God God recognizes."

"Ah! some love Paris, And some, Purdue. But love is an archer with a low I.Q. A bold, bad bowman, and innocent of pity. So I'm in love with New York City."

"Prince, I warn you, under the rose, Time is the thief you cannot banish. These are my daughters, I suppose. But where in the world did the children vanish?"