Stothard learned the art of combining colors by closely studying butterflies wings; he would often say that no one knew what he owed to these tiny insects. A burnt stick and a barn door served Wilkie in lieu of pencil and canvas.

Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession -a property entirely our own.

Those who aren't making mistakes probably aren't making anything.

Men whose acts are at variance with their words command no respect, and what they say has but little weight.

Nothing of real worth can be obtained without courageous working. Man owes his growth chiefly to the active striving of the will, that encounter with difficulty which he calls effort; and it is astonishing to find how often results apparently impracticable are then made possible.

Good sense, disciplined by experience and inspired by goodness, issues in practical wisdom.

Opportunities ... fall in the way of every man who is resolved to take advantage of them.