A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all.

— Washington Irving

After all, it is the divinity within that makes the divinity without; and I have been more fascinated by a woman of talent and intelligence, though deficient in personal charms, than I have been by the most regular beauty.

— Washington Irving

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.

— Washington Irving

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

— Washington Irving

An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.

— Washington Irving

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

— Washington Irving

Ball Van Tassel was an easy indulgent soul; he loved his daughter better even than his pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let her have her way in everything.

— Washington Irving

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

— Washington Irving

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

— Washington Irving

...ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves.

— Washington Irving