One does not keep house for its own sake.

It is absorption in the process--the refusal to allow it to be forgotten or utilized freely, that makes the work barren.

It is like becoming so absorbed in a beautiful frame that you are unconscious of the picture--unconscious that there is a picture.

Things must serve their purpose if they are to convince of their beauty.

Try living in a room with a wonderfully fitted fireplace; its mantel of exquisite design and workmanship, its fire irons masterpieces of art--and no heat from it! Note how utterly distasteful it all becomes.