“The gratitude of place-expectants is a lively sense of future favours.”

“Act with kindness but do not expect gratitude.”

“Without a sense of history, our expectations are the product of how we live now.”

“I am, then, first of all, countryfied, an exile, evidently unlearned, one who is not able to see into the future, but I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall. And from there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for his great favours in this world and for ever, that the mind of man cannot measure.”

“Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.”

“We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read.”

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

“There is no general reason to expect evolution to be progressive – even in the weak, value-neutral sense. There will be times when increased size of some organ is favoured and other times when decreased size is favoured. Most of the time, average-sized individuals will be favoured in the population and both extremes will be penalised. During these times the population exhibits evolutionary stasis (i. e., no change) with respect to the factor being measured. If we had a complete fossil record and looked for trends in some particular dimension, such as leg length, we would expect to see periods of no change alternating with fitful continuations or reversals in direction – like a weathervane in changeable, gusty weather.”

“Great men whilst living must expect disgraces,
Dead they're ador'd—when none desire their places.”

“When every benefit received is a right, there is no place for good manners, let alone for gratitude.”