Real improvement is of slow growth only.

Fire tests gold, suffering tests brave men.

A dwarf is small even if he stands on a mountain; a colossus keeps his height, even if he stands in a well.

What progress have I made? I am beginning to be my own friend. That is progress indeed

My joy in learning is partly that it enables me to teach.

There is the need for someone against which our characters can measure themselves. Without a ruler, you won't make the crooked straight.

God has not revealed all things to man and has entrusted us with but a fragment of His mighty work. But He who directs all things, who has established and laid the foundation of the world, who has clothed Himself with Creation, He is greater and better than that which He has wrought. Hidden from our eyes, He can only be reached by the spirit.