A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.

More from The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819-1820), 'Rip Van Winkle'

• That happy age when a man can be idle with impunity.
• I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.
• There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.
• There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place. Tales of a Traveler (1824)
• There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.
• There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.