Early on the next morning we reached Kansas, about five hundred miles from the mouth of the Missouri.

Riding in advance, we passed over one of these great plains; we looked back and saw the line of scattered horsemen stretching for a mile or more; and far in the rear against the horizon, the white wagons creeping slowly along.

A military road led from this point to Fort Leavenworth, and for many miles the farms and cabins of the Delawares were scattered at short intervals on either hand.

A few hours' ride brought us to the banks of the river Kansas.

Not a breath of air stirred over the free and open prairie; the clouds were like light piles of cotton; and where the blue sky was visible, it wore a hazy and languid aspect.

Here society is reduced to its original elements, the whole fabric of art and conventionality is struck rudely to pieces, and men find themselves suddenly brought back to the wants and resources of their original natures.

Four men are missing; R., Sorel and two emigrants. They set out this morning after buffalo, and have not yet made their appearance; whether killed or lost, we cannot tell.

The reader need not be told that John Bull never leaves home without encumbering himself with the greatest possible load of luggage. Our companions were no exception to the rule.

We were now arrived at the close of our solitary journeyings along the St. Joseph's trail.

America, when it became known to Europeans, was, as it had long been, a scene of wide-spread revolution.

Many of the Iroquois and Huron houses were of similar construction, the partitions being at the sides only, leaving a wide passage down the middle of the house.

Crossing the Penobscot, one found a visible descent in the scale of humanity.

Fort Leavenworth is in fact no fort, being without defensive works, except two block-houses.

We were now, as I before mentioned, upon this St. Joseph's trail. It was evident, by the traces, that large parties were a few days in advance of us; and as we too supposed them to be Mormons, we had some apprehension of interruption.

Our New England climate is mild and equable compared with that of the Platte.

We were in all four men with eight animals; for besides the spare horses led by Shaw and myself, an additional mule was driven along with us as a reserve in case of accident.

The fortified towns of the Hurons were all on the side exposed to Iroquois incursions.

Early on the next morning we reached Kansas, about five hundred miles from the mouth of the Missouri.

We were soon free of the woods and bushes, and fairly upon the broad prairie.

It was a rich and gorgeous sunset - an American sunset; and the ruddy glow of the sky was reflected from some extensive pools of water among the shadowy copses in the meadow below.

The great medley of Oregon and California emigrants, at their camps around Independence, had heard reports that several additional parties were on the point of setting out from St. Joseph's farther to the northward.

I've missed London so much for its fashion. No disrespect to the girls in Manchester, but some really do look like clones - there's a lot of hair extensions and fake tans. You're free to experiment down here.

Argh... I could be better with my time. I like to be punctual, but I could be better.

Its hard to tell who has your back from who has it long enough just to stab you in it .

No chaos, no creation. Evidence: the kitchen at mealtime.

Most people sort of enjoy going to work because of the socialisation, a chance to flirt with co-workers and so on, but actually hate the job they do.

Charity But how shall we expect charity towards others, when we are uncharitable to ourselves? Charity begins at home, is the voice of the world; yet is every man his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner.

No one has the responsibility to be out to anyone but himself or herself. I made my choice a million years ago.

Discover your deep inner self and from that place spread love in every direction.

Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.

I have a brain and a uterus and I use both.

There are hunters, and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience, and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.

Imagine for yourself a character a model personality whose example you determine to follow in private as well as in public.

Layers are not difficult for me. You have the luxury of takes, so if you feel like, say, you did not take in the fact that your aunt is across the way in one take, you do it again and try to add that piece.

You know, I've been playing with my hair color ever since I was nine.

Drop ego and listen. Empathize.

We don't notice that our cells are turning over all the time. You get a completely new composition of cells every seven years, and on the surface, or subjectively, it looks as though you're the same for seven years. It's like a ground - it looks stable, but beneath it, everything is shifting all the time. It's exciting and dangerous.

I want my shows to be eerie and mysterious.

I've been blessed with pretty strong stamina and healthy genes, so I'd call myself sensible. I've had regular mammograms ever since I found a lump in my breast when I was 30. Thankfully, all was well.

Ask, give thanks, repeat. Ask, give thanks, repeat.

It's great that I can look up a fact instantly on my cellphone, but I miss the days in my room with a dog-eared, text-heavy paperback, immersed in the statistics of crime and punishment and lunacy, completely alone with the narrative of human depravity.

If we can put a man on the moon and sequence the human genome, we should be able to devise something close to a universal digital public library.

'Jack & Diane' was originally about race. I was playing nightclubs, and I was seeing new American couples, mixed-race couples. I thought it was cool. The song was my effort to make a song about that, but of course the record-company guy didn't like it.

A state of skepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision.

The creative person is both more primitive and more cultivated, more destructive, a lot madder and a lot saner, than the average person.