Prayer is not a substitute for work; it is an effort to work further and be efficient beyond the range of one's powers.

Old places and old persons in their turn, when spirit dwells in them, have an intrinsic vitality of which youth is incapable, precisely, the balance and wisdom that come from long perspectives and broad foundations

Thought is essentially practical in the sense that but for thought no motion would be an action, no change a progress.

The human mind is not rich enough to drive many horses abreast and wants one general scheme, under which it strives to bring everything.

There is no right government except good government.

An artist may visit a museum but only a pedant can live there.

Knowledge is not eating, and we cannot expect to devour and possess what we mean. Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.