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

All wood is worth logs. – English proverb quoted by Cotgrave, 1611

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

The feel and beauty of finely crafted wood – the refreshing smell of your workshop – the absorbing joy of cutting and joining that makes the hours race by – These are the reasons you love woodworking. – Jack Neff, Make Your Woodworking Pay for Itself, 1996