A human life, I think, should be well rooted in some spot of native land, where it may get the love of tender kinship with the face of earth, with the labours men go forth to, with the sounds and accents that haunt it, with whatever appeals to the affecti

Only here are the first, especially vivid memories coloured by sincere sympathy, while friendly acquaintance with all one's neighbours, dogs and donkeys included, is acquired not by sentimental effort and reflection but by a dear habit that has entered the flesh and blood. At five years old mortals are not yet ready to become citizens of the world, to be inspired by abstract notions, to rise above preferences and attain a higher objectivity. The partiality for the milk on which we blindly begin our earthly path remains that necessary nourishment which body and soul must receive for at least some time.

It is best to begin the study of astronomy with the thought that a handful of stars in the sky above you belongs to your home.

George Eliot, "Daniel Deronda".

On everything of which the modern world order steadily deprives us