Swimming for his life, a man does not see much of the country through which the river winds.

Man is to be trained chiefly by studying and by knowing man.

Books are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of books - even without taking them from the shelves they seem to speak to you, to bid you welcome.

Censure and criticism never hurt anybody. If false, they can't hurt you unless you are wanting in manly character; and if true, they show a man his weak points, and forewarn him against failure and trouble.

Be thorough in all you do; and remember that although ignorance often may be innocent, pretension is always despicable.

My only hope for the world is in bringing the human mind into contact with divine revelation.

Letter to the committee in charge of the celebration of the centennial of the American Constitution. I have always regarded that Constitution as the most remarkable work known to me in modern times to have been produced by the human intellect, at a single stroke (so to speak), in its application to political affairs.