No man could bring himself to reveal his true character, and, above all, his true limitations as a citizen and a Christian, his tr...ue meannesses, his true imbecilities, to his friends, or even to his wife. Honest autobiography is therefore a contradiction in terms: the moment a man considers himself, even in petto, he tries to gild and fresco himself.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When I began to have a fire at evening, before I plastered my house, the chimney carried smoke particularly well, because of the n...umerous chinks between the boards.... Should not every apartment in which man dwells be lofty enough to create some obscurity overhead, where flickering shadows may play at evening about the rafters? These forms are more agreeable to the fancy and imagination than fresco paintings or other the most expensive furniture.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The houses are from five to seven feet high, and all built upon one arbitrary plan--the ungraceful form of a dry-goods box. The si...des are daubed with a smooth white plaster, and tastefully frescoed aloft and alow with disks of camel-dung placed there to dry. This gives the edifice the romantic appearance of having been riddled with cannon-balls, and imparts to it a very pleasing effect. When the artist has arranged his materials with an eye to just proportion--the small and the large flakes in alternate rows, and separated by carefully-considered intervals--I know of nothing more cheerful to look upon than a spirited Syrian fresco. Nothing in this world has such a charm for me as to stand and gaze for hours and hours upon the inspired works of these old masters.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Hey, you dress up our town very nicely. You don't look out the Chamber of Commerce is going to list you in their publicity with th...e local attractions.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Everything that ever walked or crawled on the face of the earth, swum the depths of the ocean or soared through the skies left its... imprint here.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Sheriff, have you ever watched a friend dying before your eyes and not been able to help? That's the worst of it. Being helpless. ...It's particularly tough when you're a physician and you know what's wrong with him, and there isn't a single solitary thing you or anyone else can do.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »