Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself.

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

The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought.

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.

Innocent amusements are such as excite moderately, and such as produce a cheerful frame of mind, not boisterous mirth; such as refresh, instead of exhausting, the system; such as recur frequently, rather than continue long; such as send us back to our daily duties invigorated in body and spirit; such as we can partake of in the presence and society of respectable friends; such as consist with and are favorable to a grateful piety; such as are chastened by self-respect, and are accompanied with the consciousness that life has a higher end than to be amused.

The hills are reared, the seas are scooped in vain If learning's altar vanish from the plain.

It feeds and grows on the blood which it sheds. The passions , from which it springs, gain strength and fury from indulgence.