But the term ‘godlike’ […] becomes exceedingly vague, for many gods have flourished in religious history, and their attributes have been discrepant enough.

“You must have loved him very much,” she said. “Whisht,” said the old woman, “there’s a word that you must never use until there's marrying between you […] ”

Desert islands cannot harbour treachery, even from the enemy hidden within man himself.

I prefer to think of Iowa as I saw it through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy. Those were eyes filled with the wonders of Iowa’s streams and woods, of the mystery of growing crops.