You would not think any duty small, If you yourself were great. - George MacDonald

Why are all reflections lovelier than what we call the reality? — not so grand or so strong, it may be, but always lovelier?

I think the reason children get tired of their toys so soon is just that it is against human nature to be really interested in what is of no use. If you say that a beautiful thing is always interesting, I answer, that a beautiful thing is of the highest use. Is not the diamond that flashes all its colours into the heart of a poet as useful as the diamond with which the glazier divides the sheets of glass into panes for our windows?

Benefits conferred awaken love in some minds, as surely as benefits received in others.