One must be rich in thought and character to owe nothing to books, though preparation is necessary to profitable reading; and the less reading is better than more;--book-struck men are of all readers least wise, however knowing or learned.

A work of real merit finds favor at last.

Dignity of manner always conveys a sense of reserved force.

Nature is the armory of genius. Cities serve it poorly, books and colleges at second hand; the eye craves the spectacle of the horizon; of mountain, ocean, river and plain, the clouds and stars; actual contact with the elements, sympathy with the seasons as they rise and roll.

Education may work wonders as well in warping the genius of individuals as in seconding it.

Cleanse the fountain if you would purify the streams.

Nature is thought immersed in matter. . .