Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.

Many a man who thinks to found a home discovers that he has merely opened a tavern for his friends.

For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?

People can say what they like about the eternal verities, love and truth and so on, but nothing’s as eternal as the dishes.

An American will build a house in which to pass his old age and sell it before the roof is on.

It’s your business when your neighbor’s wall is in flames.

In the matter of furnishing, I find a certain absence of ugliness far worse than ugliness.

Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense quiet.

Being offended is the natural consequence of leaving one’s home.

Every house: temple, empire, school.

Home is the girl’s prison and the woman’s workhouse.

God walks among the pots and pans.

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.