The Universality Of A Custom Is Pledge

Diaries Tell Their Little Tales With A Directness, A Candor, Conscious Or Unconscious, A Closeness Of Outlook, Which Gratifies Our Sense Of Security. Reading Them Is Like Gazing Through A Small Clear Pane Of Glass. We May Not See Far And Wide, But We See Very Distinctly That Which Comes Within Our Field Of Vision.

A Man Who Listens Because He Has Nothing To Say Can Hardly Be A Source Of Inspiration. The Only Listening That Counts Is That Of The Talker Who Alternately Absorbs And Expresses Ideas.

Conversation In Its Happiest Development Is A Link, Equally Exquisite And Adequate, Between Mind And Mind, A System By Which Men Approach One Another With Sympathy And Enjoyment, A Field For The Finest Amenities Of Civilization, For The Keenest And Most Intelligent Display Of Social Activity. It Is Also Our Solace, Our Inspiration, And Our Most Rational Pleasure. It Is A Duty We Owe To One Another; It Is Our Common Debt To Humanity.

People Who Cannot Recognize A Palpable Absurdity Are Very Much In The Way Of Civilization.

The Perfectly Natural Thing To Do With An Unreadable Book Is To Give It Away; And The Publication, For More Than A Quarter Of A Century, Of Volumes Which Fulfilled This One Purpose And No Other Is A Pleasant Proof, If Proof Were Needed, Of The Business Principles Which Underlay The Enlightened Activity Of Publishers.