Top 139 Quotes & Sayings by John Lancaster Spalding - Page 2

Liberty is more precious than money or office; and we should be vigilant lest we purchase wealth or place at the price of inner freedom.

We have lost the old love of work, of work which kept itself company, which was fair weather and music in the heart, which found its reward in the doing, craving neither the flattery of vulgar eyes nor the gold of vulgar men.

We may outgrow the things of children, without acquiring sense and relish for those which become a man.

A liberal education is that which aims to develop faculty without ulterior views of profession or other means of gaining a livelihood. It considers man an end in himself and not an instrument whereby something is to be wrought. Its ideal is human perfection.

Whom little things occupy and keep busy, are little men.

Be watchful lest thou lose the power of desiring and loving what appeals to the soul this is the miser's curse this the chain and ball the sensualist drags.

If thou need money, get it in an honest way by keeping books, if thou wilt, but not by writing books.

States of soul rightly expressed, as the poet expresses them in moments of pure inspiration, retain forever the power of creating like states. It is this that makes genuine literature a vital force.

As the visit of one we love makes the whole day pleasant, so is it illumined and made fair by a brave and beautiful thought.

Insight makes argument ridiculous.

To secure approval one must remain within the bounds of conventional mediocrity. Whatever lies beyond, whether it be greater insight and virtue, or greater stolidity and vice, is condemned. The noblest men, like the worst criminals, have been done to death.

The writers who accomplish most are those who compel thought on the highest and most profoundly interesting subjects.

It is unpleasant to turn back, though it be to take the right way.

If all were gentle and contented as sheep, all would be as feeble and helpless.

Exercise of body and exercise of mind are supplementary, and both may be made recreative and educative.

The study of science, dissociated from that of philosophy and literature, narrows the mind and weakens the power to love and follow the noblest ideals: for the truths which science ignores and must ignore are precisely those which have the deepest bearing on life and conduct.

The doctrine of the utter vanity of life is a doctrine of despair, and life is hope.

If thou wouldst be interesting, keep thy personality in the background, and be great and strong in and through thy subject.

There are few things it is more important to learn than how to live on little and be therewith content: for the less we need what is without, the more leisure have we to live within.

One may speak Latin and have but the mind of a peasant.

In giving us dominion over the animal kingdom God has signified His will that we subdue the beast within ourselves.

We are not masters of the truth which is borne in upon us: it overpowers us.

To think profoundly, to seek and speak truth, to love justice and denounce wrong is to draw upon one's self the ill will of many.

Contradiction is the salt which keeps truth from corruption

As children must have the hooping cough, the college youth must pass through the stage of conceit in which he holds in slight esteem the wisdom of the best.

A Wise man knows that much of what he says and does is commonplace and trivial. His thoughts are not all solemn and sacred in his own eyes. He is able to laugh at himself and is not offended when others make him a subject whereon to exercise their wit.

A hobby is the result of a distorted view of things. It is putting a planet in the place of a sun.

To learn the worth of a man's religion, do business with him.

Worry, whatever its source, weakens, takes away courage, and shortens life.

The ploughman knows how many acres he shall upturn from dawn to sunset: but the thinker knows not what a day may bring forth.

It is difficult to be sure of our friends, but it is possible to be certain of our loyalty to them.

The power of free will is developed and confirmed by increasing the number of worthy motives which influence conduct.

Work, mental or manual, is the means whereby attention is compelled, it is the instrument of all knowledge and virtue, the root whence all excellence springs.

Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.

If thou wouldst be implacable, be so with thyself.

They who can no longer unlearn have lost the power to learn.

Passion is begotten of passion, and it easily happens, as with the children of great men, that the base is the offspring of the noble.

Do definite good; first of all to yourself, then to definite persons.

Leave each one his touch of folly; it helps to lighten life's burden which, if he could see himself as he is, might be too heavy to carry.

If there are but few who interest thee, why shouldst thou be disappointed if but few find thee interesting?

Agitators and declaimers may heat the blood, but they do not illumine the mind.

The important thing is how we know, not what or how much.

Thy money, thy office, thy reputation are nothing; put away these phantom clothings, and stand like an athlete stripped for the battle.

The fields and the flowers and the beautiful faces are not ours, as the stars and the hills and the sunlight are not ours, but they give us fresh and happy thoughts.

Few know the joys that spring from a disinterested curiosity. It is like a cheerful spirit that leads us through worlds filled with what is true and fair, which we admire and love because it is true and fair.

It is the expensiveness of our pleasures that makes the world poor and keeps us poor in ourselves. If we could but learn to find enjoyment in the things of the mind, the economic problems would solve themselves.

As our power over others increases, we become less free; for to retain it, we must make ourselves its servants.

There is some lack either of sense or of character in one who becomes involved in difficulties with the worthless or the vicious.

The will the one thing it is most important to educate we neglect.

We shrink from the contemplation of our dead bodies, forgetting that when dead they are no longer ours, and concern us as little as the hairs that have fallen from our heads.

Those subjects have the greatest educational value, which are richest in incentives to the noblest self-activity.

It is the business of the teacher ... to fortify reason and to make conscience sovereign.

When we have attained success, we see how inferior it is to the hope, yearning and enthusiasm with which we started forth in life's morning.

Make thyself perfect; others, happy.

The zest of life lies in right doing, not in the garnered harvest.

Nothing requires so little mental effort as to narrate or follow a story. Hence everybody tells stories and the readers of stories outnumber all others.

Folly will run its course and it is the part of wisdom not to take it too seriously.

It is not difficult to grasp and express thoughts that float on the stream of current opinion: but to think and rightly utter what is permanently true and interesting, what shall appeal to the best minds a thousand years hence, as it appeals to them to-day, this is the work of genius.

When guests enter the room their entertainers rise to receive them; and in all meetings men should ascend into their higher selves, imparting to one another only the best they know and love.

We may avoid much disappointment and bitterness of soul by learning to understand how little necessary to our joy and peace are the things the multitude most desire and seek.