Of all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.

The new American, like the new European, was the servant of the powerhouse, as the European of the twelfth century was the servant of the Church.

A society in stable equilibrium is-by definition-one that has no history and wants no historians.

A parent gives life, but as parent, gives no more. A murderer takes life, but his deed stops there. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Boys naturally look on all force as an enemy.

The President may indeed in one respect resemble the commander of an army in peace, but in another and more essential sense he resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek. He must sooner or later be convinced that a perpetual calm is as little to his purpose as a perpetual hurricane, and that without headway the ship can arrive nowhere.

Charles Sumner's mind had reached the calm of WATER which receives and reflects images without absorbing them; it contains nothing but itself.