Say not thou lackest talent. What talent had any of the greatest, but passionate faith in the efficacy of work?
We are made ridiculous less by our defects than by the affectation of qualities which are not ours.
A principal aim of education is to give students a taste for literature, for the books of life and power, and to accomplish this, it is necessary that their minds be held aloof from the babblement and discussions of the hour, that they may accustom themselves to take interest in the words and deeds of the greatest men, and so make themselves able and worthy to shape a larger and nobler future; but if their hours of leisure are spent over journals and reviews, they will, in later years, become the helpless victims of the newspaper habit.
To view an object in the proper light we must stand away from it. The study of the classical literatures gives the aloofness which cultivates insight. In learning to live with peoples and civilizations that have long ceased to be alive, we gain a vantage point, acquire an enlargement and elevation of thought, which enable us to study with a more impartial and liberal mind the condition of the society around us.
The study of law is valuable as a mental discipline, but the practice of pleading tends to make one petty, formal, and insincere. To be driven to look to legality rather than to equity blurs the view of truth and justice.
Liberty is more precious than money or office; and we should be vigilant lest we purchase wealth or place at the price of inner freedom.
If we attempt to sink the soul in matter, its light is quenched.
To learn the worth of a man's religion, do business with him.
In the world of thought a man's rank is determined, not by his average work, but by his highest achievement.
The world is a mirror into which we look, and see our own image.
We may outgrow the things of children, without acquiring sense and relish for those which become a man.
We have lost the old love of work, of work which kept itself company, which was fair weather and music in the heart, which found its reward in the doing, craving neither the flattery of vulgar eyes nor the gold of vulgar men.
No sooner does a divine gift reveal itself in youth or maid than its market value becomes the decisive consideration, and the poor young creatures are offered for sale, as we might sell angels who had strayed among us.
The doubt of an earnest, thoughtful, patient and laborious mind is worthy of respect. In such doubt may be found indeed more faith than in half the creeds.
The common prejudice against philosophy is the result of the incapacity of the multitude to deal with the highest problems.
Nothing requires so little mental effort as to narrate or follow a story. Hence everybody tells stories and the readers of stories outnumber all others.
The teacher does best, not when he explains, but when he impels his pupils to seek themselves the explanation.
As the visit of one we love makes the whole day pleasant, so is it illumined and made fair by a brave and beautiful thought.
The fields and the flowers and the beautiful faces are not ours, as the stars and the hills and the sunlight are not ours, but they give us fresh and happy thoughts.
Few know the joys that spring from a disinterested curiosity. It is like a cheerful spirit that leads us through worlds filled with what is true and fair, which we admire and love because it is true and fair.
A Wise man knows that much of what he says and does is commonplace and trivial. His thoughts are not all solemn and sacred in his own eyes. He is able to laugh at himself and is not offended when others make him a subject whereon to exercise their wit.
It is the expensiveness of our pleasures that makes the world poor and keeps us poor in ourselves. If we could but learn to find enjoyment in the things of the mind, the economic problems would solve themselves.
A hobby is the result of a distorted view of things. It is putting a planet in the place of a sun.
As children must have the hooping cough, the college youth must pass through the stage of conceit in which he holds in slight esteem the wisdom of the best.
Exercise of body and exercise of mind are supplementary, and both may be made recreative and educative.
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