Booth Tarkington

One of the hardest conditions of boyhood is the almost continuous strain put upon the powers of invention by the constant and harassing necessity for explanations for every natural act.

An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.

Boyhood is the longest time in life for a boy. The last term of the school year is made of decades not of weeks and living through them is like waiting for the millennium.

The only good in pretending is the fun we get out of fooling ourselves that we fool somebody.

Cherish all your happy moments; they make a fine cushion for old age.

He had not yet learned that the only safe male rebuke to a scornful female is to stay away from her - especially if that is what she desires.

Boyhood is the longest time in life for a boy. The last term of the school-year is made of decades, not of weeks, and living through them is like waiting for the millennium.

Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.

There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink.

Mothers see the angel in us because the angel is there. If it's shown to the mother, the son has got an angel to show, hasn't he? When a son cuts somebody's throat the mother only sees it's possible for a misguided angel to act like a devil - and she's entirely right about that!

So long as we can lose any happiness, we possess some.

Cherish all your happy moments they make a fine cushion for old age.