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Sarah Josepha Hale
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“... she had the habit into which your poor conversationalists usually fall, namely, asking questions. I know nothing more disagreeable that does not absolutely shock one's principles, than to be subjected to the society of a questioner.”
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“There is something in the decay of nature that awakens thought, even in the most trifling mind.”
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“... self-control, in every station and to every individual, is indispensable, if people would retain that equanimity of mind, which, depending on self-respect, is the essential of contentment and happiness.”
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“Readers soon tire of prefaces, and skip them, and so the labor of writing them is lost.”
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“A day of bliss is quickly told, / A thousand would not make us old / As one of sorrow doth — / It is by cares, by woes and tears, / We round the sum of human years — ...”
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“Those who cannot think, have, in my opinion, a necessity (which goes very far towards creating a right) for amusement.”
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“Mary had a little lamb, / Its fleece was white as snow; / And everywhere that Mary went / The lamb was sure to go.”
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“... the engrossing pursuit of Americans is wealth.”
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“What in the rising man was industry and economy, becomes in the rich man parsimony and avarice.”
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“A man is never more satisfied than when he is confirming a favorite theory.”
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“... while they kept the Sabbath day with pharisaical strictness, the other six days were their own. They strove for earth and sighed for heaven, and failed of enjoyment in the pursuit of either.”
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“... she was delivering a household harangue, which, in its style, imitated very closely some of our distinguished poets, being, like their rhymes, diffusive and digressive, a bundle of words concealing the idea, if any there were, as effectually as the covering of the cocoa-nut conceals the kernel.”
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“What a ready passport wealth gives its possessor to the good opinions of this world!”
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“Americans have two ardent passions; the love of liberty, and love of distinction.”
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“There is small danger of being starved in our land of plenty; but the danger of being stuffed is imminent ...”
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“... many tender, delicate mothers, seem to think that to make their children eat, is all that is requisite to make them great.”
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“Why is it that water, so monotonous in its characteristics, should nevertheless possess a charm for every mind? I believe it is chiefly because it bears the impress of the Creator, which we feel neither the power of time or of man can efface or alter.”
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“Water is the grand epic of creation; and there is not a human soul but feels the influence of its majesty, its power, or its beauty.”
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“There is hardly a more heart-thrilling pleasure enjoyed by mortals, than that which parents feel when seeing their child first being able to 'catch knowledge of objects.'”
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“Riches are always over estimated; the enjoyment they give is more in the pursuit than the possession.”
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“Happiness is, in truth, a very cheap thing, when the heart will be contented to traffic with nature — art has quite a different price.”
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“It requires but a few threads of hope, for the heart that is skilled in the secret, to weave a web of happiness.”
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“There are few sensations more painful, than, in the midst of deep grief, to know that the season which we have always associated with mirth and rejoicing is at hand.”
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“This is a speculating and selfish age; and to think 'money will answer all things,' is too much the characteristic of Americans.”
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“It is a bad business, dealing in lottery tickets ... Riches got in such a hasty manner never wear well.”
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“What has made this nation great? Not its heroes but its households.”
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“Next to genius, is the power / Of feeling where true genius lies.”
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“There can be no education without leisure; and without leisure, education is worthless.”
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“The most welcome guest in society will ever be the one to whose mind everything is a suggestion, and whose words suggest something to everybody.”
Sarah Josepha Hale, U.S. writer, editor, first female magazine editor in U.S., established Thanksgiving holiday
(1788 - 1879)
Full name: Sarah Josepha Buell Hale.