When crushed, sage-brush emits an odor which isn't exactly magnolia and equally isn't exactly polecat--but it is a sort of compromise between the two.
- Letter to Pamela Moffett and Jane Clemens, 25 Oct. 1861

Sage-brush is a very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child the mule.
- Roughing It