Though it is a great mistake to make friends of the wicked and foolish, it is unwise to make enemies of them, for they are very numerous.

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.

Happiness is a condition of mind not a result of circumstances.

Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has.

There can be no merit in believing something which you can neither explain nor understand.

Happy indeed is the naturalist: to him the seasons come round like old friends; to him the birds sing: as he walks along, the flowers stretch out from the hedges, or look up from the ground, and as each year fades away, he looks back on a fresh store of happy memories.

Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.