Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life

God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and fill us with the love of truth and virtue.

Real greatness has nothing to do with a man’s sphere. It does not lie in the magnitude of his outward agency, in the extent of the effects which he produces. The greatest men may do comparatively little.

It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the intercourse with superior minds.

A clear thought, a pure affection, a resolute act of a virtuous will, have a dignity of quite another kind, and far higher than accumulations of brick and granite and plaster and stucco, however cunningly put together.

True love is the parent of humility.

Influence is to be measured, not by the extent of surface it covers, but by its kind.