It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great.

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.

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

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

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

[Peace] is the highest and most strenuous act of the soul, but an entirely harmonious act, in which all our powers and affections are blending in a beautiful proportion, and sustain and perfect one another. It is more than the silence after storms. It is as the concord of all melodious sounds ... an alliance of love with all beings, a sympathy with all that is pure and happy, a surrender of every separate will and interest, a participation of the spirit and life of the universe.... This is peace, and the true happiness of [humanity].

A man might pass for insane who should see things as they are.