A few quotes to consider from Willa Cather's The Professor's House.

"But the fact is, the human mind, the individual mind, has always been made more interesting by dwelling on the old riddles, even if it makes nothing of them."

"It struck him that the seasons sometimes gain by being brought into the house, just as they gain by being brought into painting, and into poetry."

"She wouldn't have made herself look quite so well if Louie hadn't been coming, he reflected. Or was it that he wouldn't have noticed it if Louie hadn't been there?"

"In great misfortunes...people want to be alone. They have a right to be. And the misfortunes that occur within one are the greatest. Surely the saddest thing in the world is falling out of love - if once one has ever fallen in."