If a man knew anything, he would sit in a corner and be modest; but he is such an ignorant peacock, that he goes bustling up and down, and hits on extraordinary discoveries.
Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.
Some men are born to own, and can animate all their possessions. Others cannot: their owning is not graceful; seems to be a compromise of their character: they seem to steal their own dividends.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
That which we call sin in others, is experiment for us.
The secret in education lies in respecting the student.
Raphael paints wisdom; Handel sings it, Phidias carves it, Shakespeare writes it, Wren builds it, Columbus sails it, Luther preaches it, Washington arms it, Watt mechanizes it.
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.
Classic art was the art of necessity: modern romantic art bears the stamp of caprice and chance.
The right merchant is one who has the just average of faculties we call common sense; a man of a strong affinity for facts, who makes up his decision on what he has seen. He is thoroughly persuaded of the truths of arithmetic. There is always a reason, in the man, for his good or bad fortune in making money. Men talk as if there were some magic about this. He knows that all goes on the old road, pound for pound, cent for cent – for every effect a perfect cause – and that good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
Act, if you like, but you do it at your peril. Men’s actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.
Do that which is assigned to you and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.
Friends, such as we desire, are dreams and fables.
Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.
The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most.
Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.
His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong.
The torpid artist seeks inspiration at any cost, by virtue or by vice, by friend or by fiend, by prayer or by wine.
Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.
When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.
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