Will Christian
Will Christian
two light lamps
The light in the world comes principally from two sources,-the sun, and the student's lamp.
freedom tyrants customs
There is no tyrant like custom, and no freedom where its edicts are not resisted.
gratitude pain spring
Pleasure and pain spring not so much from the nature of things, as from our manner of considering them in particular, what we compare them to.
imperfection criticism attention
The legitimate aim of criticism is to direct attention to the excellent. The bad will dig its own grave, and the imperfect may safely be left to that final neglect from which no amount of present undeserved popularity can rescue it.
educational common-sense commodity
Common sense, alas in spite of our educational institutions, is a rare commodity.
men giving example
Examples are few of men ruined by giving.
father doubt pioneers
Galileo called doubt the father of invention; it is certainly the pioneer.
inspiration enthusiasm-for-life enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is the inspiration of everything great.
ideas age way
The greatest events of an age are its best thoughts. Thought finds its way into action.
blow wind may
It is our relation to circumstances that determine their influence over us. The same wind that blows one ship into port may blow another off shore.
followers example reason
Example has far more followers than reason.
want bread falstaff
Nature has provided for the exigency of privation, by putting the measure of our necessities far below the measure of our wants. Our necessities are to our wants as Falstaff's pennyworth of bread to his any quantity of sack.
excellence distinction pursuit
The highest excellence is seldom attained in more than one vocation. The roads leading to distinction in separate pursuits diverge, and the nearer we approach the one, the farther we recede from the other.
wise men law
The grandest of all laws is the law of progressive development. Under it, in the wide sweep of things, men grow wiser as they grow older, and societies better.