"The face of nature and civilization in this our country is to a certain point a very sufficient literary field. But it will yield its secrets only to a really grasping imagination. To write well and worthily of American things one need even more than elsewhere to be a master."

"To criticize is to appreciate, to appropriate, to take intellectual possession, to establish in fine a relation with the criticized thing and to make it one's own."

"Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue."

"What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?"

"A visionary sees the unseen and knows the strength of a community lies in its compassion."

"Mark Ruffalo, aka the Incredible Hulk, is the natural gas industry's worst nightmare: a serious, committed activist who is determined to use his star power as a superhero in the hottest movie of the moment to draw attention the environmental and public health risks of fracking."

"True authority is measured not by subjugation, but by the empowerment of others. Let this simple maxim guide your daily deeds — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"True authority is measured not by subjugation, but by the empowerment of others. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."