I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content itself with a passive or hereditary faith, which opens itself to light whencesoever it may come, which receives new truth as an angel from Heaven.

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

One of the tremendous evils of the world, is the monstrous accumulation of power in a few hands.

Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.

But the ground of a man's culture lies in his nature, not in his calling. His powers are to be unfolded on account of their inherent dignity, not their outward direction. He is to be educated, because he is a man, not because he is to make shoes, nail, or pins.

To give a generous hope to a man of his own nature, is to enrich him immeasurably.

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.