The original fairy tale was about the youngest sister going into a room in the castle and finding all the bodies of the wives that came before her - she is confronted with truth, thinking about how often we think we know people and we really don't.

When we want to know God's will, there are three things which always concur: the inward impulse, the Word of God and the trend of circumstances. Never act until these three things agree.

F. B. Meyer

It is illegal in England to state in print that a wife can and should derive sexual pleasure from intercourse

Bertrand Russell

One Christmas was so much like another,...that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twleve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.

Dylan Thomas, A Child's Christma

Ancestors do not mean so much. The rebel who succeeds generally makes it easier for the posterity that follows him; so these descendants are usually contented and smug and soft. Rebels are made from life, not ancestors.

Clarence Darrow

And, as I have said, it's made me think twice about the imagination. If the spirits aren't external, how astonishing the mediums become! Victor Hugo said of his voices that they were like his own mental powers multiplied by five.

James Merrill

The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love.

Luther Burbank

The moment that changed me for ever was the moment my first child was born. I was happy, filled with hope, and thought, 'Now I understand the whole point of work, of life, of love.'

Paul Theroux

My biggest blast-off hit was 'You Raise Me Up.' If you ever have a wedding or a funeral, it's a good pick.

Josh Groban

Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.

Johann Kaspar Lavater

I love photography. My boyfriend's got a great camera, which I bought for his birthday.

Sarah Sutton

The work was like peeling an onion. The outer skin came off with difficulty... but in no time you'd be down to its innards, tears streaming from your eyes as more and more beautiful reductions became possible.

Edward Blishen

Back, n. That part of your friend which it is your privilege to contemplate in your adversity.

Ambrose Bierce