The motive of science was the extension of man, on all sides, into Nature, till his hands should touch the stars, his eyes see through the earth, his ears understand the language of beast and bird, and the sense of the wind; and, through his sympathy, heaven and earth should talk with him. But that is not our science.

A low self-love in the parent desires that his child should repeat his character and fortune.

As the farmer casts into the ground the finest ears of his grain, the time will come when we too shall hold nothing back, but shall eagerly convert more than we now possess into means and powers, when we shall be willing to sow the sun and the moon for seeds.

When I bought my farm, I did not know what a bargain I had in the bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes; as little did I know what sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying.

As a man thinketh, so is he, and as a man chooseth, so is he.

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.

He who does a good deed is instantly ennobled. He who does a mean deed is by the action itself contracted.