The Virginian

I finished The Virginian a few days ago and can't seem to pick up another book yet. I keep thinking about this one. This was actually my 2nd time through this book. I read it last summer and loved it. When it was my turn to pick a book for my Book Club to read this one came to mind.
As I read it this time I took notes, especially knowing I get to lead the discussion at book club. Most of my notes ended up being quotes from the book. There is a lot of wit and wisdom scattered through this book. Here are few from my notes:

"The letter means nothing until the spirit gives it life."

"Do you think there ought to be fifteen varieties of good people?.... there ain't fifteen, there ain't two, there's one kind. and when I meet it, I respect it... one or two people... they thought more o' me then I deserved and that made me behave better than I naturally wanted to."

"A man, any full-sized man, ought to own a big lot of temper. And like all his valuable possessions, he's ought to keep it and not loose any"

"The whole secret lies in the way you treat people. As soon as you treat men as your brothers they are ready to acknowledge you - if you deserve it - as their superior."

"When a man ain't got no ideas of his own... he'd ought to be kind o' careful who he borrows 'em from"

Taken out of context they may not have the impact they do when found in the book accompanied by the stories and incidents that they are selected from. If you have never read a western I encourage you to give this one a try. There is a reason is a classic. Great characters, teaches great morals about right and wrong, even a little romance thrown in too.