The great lesson of biography is to show what man can be and do at his best. A noble life put fairly on record acts like an inspiration to others.

Men cannot be raised in masses as the mountains were in he early geological states of the world. They must be dealt with as units; for it is only by the elevation of individuals that the elevation of the masses can be effectively secured.

When typhus or cholera breaks out, they tell us that Nobody is to blame. That terrible Nobody! How much he has to answer for. More mischief is done by Nobody than by all the world besides.

The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.

Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.

The principal industrial excellence of the English people lay in their capacity of present exertion for a distant object.

Obedience, submission, discipline, courage--these are among the characteristics which make a man.