William Dean Howells
» Action » “An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.”
» Books and Reading » “The mortality of all inanimate things is terrible to me, but that of books most of all.”
» Mothers » “A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it’s too late to let her know he sees it.”
» Noise » “He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence.”
» People » “Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.”
» Praise » “I know, indeed, of nothing more subtle satisfying and cheering than a knowledge of the real good will and appreciation of others. Such happiness does not come with money, nor does it flow from a fine physical state. It cannot be bought. But it is the keenest joy, after all; and the toiler’s truest and best reward.”
» Tragedies » “What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.”
» Voice » “It is the still, small voice that the soul heeds, not the deafening blasts of doom.”
