All life is a struggle.... Under competition the lazy man is put under the necessity of exerting himself; and if he will not exert himself, he must fall behind. If he do not work, neither shall he eat.

Help from without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates.

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

Like men, nations are purified and strengthened by trials.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book.

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.

A fig-tree looking on a fig-tree becometh fruitful," says the Arabian proverb. And so it is with children; their first great instructor is example.