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Sara hugged her close and tried to laugh. There was a sort of comfort in the warmth of the plump, childish body.

Everything was strange and silent and she seemed to be hundreds of miles away from anyone, but somehow she did not feel lonely at all.

As he sat gazing into the clear running of the water, Archibald Craven gradually felt his mind and body both grow quiet, as quiet as the valley itself.

He did not know how long he sat there or what was happening to him, but at last he moved as if he were awakening and he got up slowly and stood on the moss carpet, drawing a long, deep, soft breath and wondering at himself. Something seemed to have been unbound and released in him, very quietly.

I can say with conviction that the struggle which evil necessitates is one of the greatest blessings. It makes us strong, patient, helpful men and women.

Optimism that does not count the cost is like a house builded on sand.

But I have found out that though the ways in which I can make myself useful are few, yet the work open to me is endless.

I, too, can work, and because I love to labor with my head and my hands, I am an optimist in spite of all.

Now I rejoice in the consciousness that I can think, act and attain heaven.

I remember an hour when I was discouraged and ready to falter. For days I had been pegging away at a task which refused to get itself accomplished.

There, too, after a fit of temper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass.

But I did not dream that that interview would be the door through which I should pass from darkness into light, from isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge, love.

At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them.

I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon.

What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness!

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

As there are silent depths in the ocean which the fiercest storm cannot reach, so there are silent, holy depths in the heart of man which the storms of sin and sorrow can never disturb.

Sorrow purifies and deepens the soul, and the extremity of sorrow is the prelude to Truth.

The man that stands upon a principle is the same calm, dauntless, self-possessed man under all circumstances.

To be swayed by your fluctuating thoughts and impulses is to be weak and powerless; to rightly control and direct those forces is to be strong and powerful.

Whether one be fearful or fearless, foolish or wise, troubled or serene, within that soul lies the cause of its own state or states, and never without.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.

Give scrupulous attention to the duty of the present moment.

To be able to do a thing, you must begin to do it, and keep on doing it until the thing is mastered.

Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear.