The carpenter dresses his plank, the tongue of his foreplane whistles its wild ascending lisp… – Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass

Woodworking is a most satisfying pastime, so varied and multifaceted you will never complete the twin processes you have undertaken: acquiring tools and learning how to use them. You have begun a lifetime pursuit. – Michael Dunbar, “Essential Tools”

A knotty piece of timber must have smooth wedges. – English proverb quoted by John Ray, 1670

Are the tools without, which the carpenter puts forth his hands to, or are they and all the carpentry within himself; and would he not smile at the notion that chest or house is more than he? – C.A. Bartol, The Rising Faith, Chapter XI: Personality, 1873