quotes from classic

Poetry is a mixture of common sense, which not all have, with an uncommon sense, which very few have.

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Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it.

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I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.

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Ah! destructive Ignorance, what shall be done to chase thee out of the World!

more quotes from Cotton Mather

Families are the Nurseries of all Societies; and the First combinations of mankind.

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Our opportunities to do good are our talents.

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A Good School deserves to be call'd, the very Salt of the Town, that hath it.

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History is the story of events, with praise or blame.

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There may be some so very Ignorant, that they know not how to Pray.

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I find that other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there.

more quotes from Frances Mayes

If you've got a plot the size of a car or a tiny yard in Italy, you're going to be growing tomatoes and basil and celery and carrots, and everybody is still connected to the land.

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The Italians have their priorities right: They're driven, they do their work, but they really enjoy the day-to-day and they don't put off the enjoyment of the everyday for some future goal.

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When I was twelve, I started reading Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe, Flannery O'Connor, James Agee, and - do we dare breathe the name - William Faulkner.

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I think I went to Italy initially for the art, architecture, food and history, but I stayed there because of the people in Cortona.

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I'm just fascinated by houses. In another life, I'd have probably trained as an architect. If I had enough money, I'd collect them like other people collect teapots. I don't know why I love them so much. I'm just very interested in the idea of a house as a metaphor for the way one lives.

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It's kind of amazing that people will travel because of a book. I admire that.

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I got the idea that to write books would be the best way to spend a life. I never thought of anything else that seemed like half as much fun, although in my next life I would like to be an architect, too, so I can have an easier time restoring houses.

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What has impressed me the most about the Italians whose tables we've sat at is that they are traditional cooks but also outrageously innovative. These people are wild improvisers.

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Living in a small Italian hilltown, and having lived in a small town in south Georgia, I understand that you can recognize a family gene pool by the lift of an eyebrow, or the length of a neck, or a way of walking.

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The longer you are in a place, the more you get under its layers.

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