To be amiable and cheerful is a good religion for a work-a-day world. We are so busy not killing, not stealing, not coveting our neighbour's wife, we have not the time to be even just to one another for the little while we are together here.

The music of life would be mute if the chords of memory were snapped asunder.

Will it be the same in the future? Will the prized treasures of today be the cheap trifles of the day before? (Chapter VI)

Life will always remain a gamble, with prizes sometimes for the imprudent, and blanks so often to the wise.

The advantage of literature over life is that its characters are clearly defined, and act consistently.

The facts of life are the impossibilities of fiction.