“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon. To me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” — Henry James · Edith Wharton's memoir, A Backward Glance
“The days are longer and the responsibilities are fewer, and you feel yourself expand and stretch and come alive again.” — Vivian Gornick · Unfinished Woman
“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.” — Ray Bradbury · Dandelion Wine, 1957
“It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to.” — Vincent van Gogh · Letter to Theo van Gogh, 1885
“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.” — Henry David Thoreau · Journal, January 1852