At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find Nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her.

A party is perpetually corrupted by personality.

The riddle of the age has for each a private solution.

Talents differ; all is well and wisely put; If I cannot carry forests on my back, Neither can you crack a nut.

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood or appreciated.

What school, college, or lecture bring men depends on what men bring to carry it home in.

Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man. Without it, thought can never ripen into truth.