If by chance I seated myself to write, she very slyly, very tenderly, seeking protection and caresses, would softly take her place on my knee and follow the comings and goings of my pen – sometimes effacing, with an unintentional stroke of her paw, lines of whose tenor she disapproved.

Unlike most other children, – especially unlike those of today – who are eager to become men and women as speedily as possible, I had a terror of growing up, which became more and more accentuated as I grew older.

Holy Istanbul! Your name is the most enchanting one of all names which enchants me.

It is with the approach of winter that cats...wear their richest fur and assume an air of sumptuous and delightful opulence.

If by chance I seated myself to write, she very slyly, very tenderly, seeking protection and caresses, would softly take her place on my knee and follow the comings and goings of my pen - sometimes effacing, with an unintentional stroke of her paw, lines of whose tenor she disapproved.

Cats are possessed of a shy, retiring nature, cajoling, haughty, and capricious, difficult to fathom. They reveal themselves only to certain favored individuals, and are repelled by the faintest suggestion of insult or even by the most trifling deception.

Unlike most other children, - especially unlike those of to-day - who are eager to become men and women as speedily as possible, I had a terror of growing up, which became more and more accentuated as I grew older.

I still went to church regularly every Sunday; that is we all went there together. I reverenced the family pew where we had assembled for so many years; and apart from that reason I hold it dear because it is associated in my memory with my mother.

Painting and music were the only things I worked at industriously and faithfully.

Unlike most other children, - especially unlike those of today - who are eager to become men and women as speedily as possible, I had a terror of growing up, which became more and more accentuated as I grew older.