There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism.

I do think the patriotic thing to do is to critique my country. How else do you make a country better but by pointing out its flaws?

As I pass it I feel as if I saw a dear old mother sweet in her weakness trembling at the approach of her dissolution but not appealing to me against the inevitable rather endeavouring to reassure me by her patience and pointing to a hopeful future.

I'm not really easy to live with! There needs to be unlimited patience and unconditional love. Men I've known before loved my independent spirit and were proud of my success to the point that they'd become jealous of the time I devote to my career.

Patience was not my strong point.

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains losses and disappointments but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.

We must return optimism to our parenting. To focus on the joys not the hassles the love not the disappointments the common sense not the complexities.

We're living in a time when parenting is not at all mirroring the way I was parented. For me I just followed my parents around on their errands when they were busy on the phone I was quiet. It's a different kettle of fish these days: They run the house and you listen to their music and you go to their appointments.

Each of us has a very rich nature and can look at things objectively from a distance and at the same time can have something more personal to say about them. I am trying to look at the world and at myself from many different points of view. I think many poets have this duality.

Many artists and scholars have pointed out that ultimately art depends on human nature.