Education is the instruction of the intellect in the laws of Nature, under which name I include not merely things and their forces, but men and their ways; and the fashioning of the affections and of the will into an earnest and loving desire to move in harmony with those laws. For me, education means neither more nor less than this. Anything which professes to call itself education must be tried by this standard, and if it fails to stand the test, I will not call it education, whatever may be the force of authority, or of numbers, upon the other side.

The life, the fortune, and the happiness of every one of us, and, more or less, of those who are connected with us, do depend upon our knowing something of the…

The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is wisdom.

For every man the world is as fresh as it was at the first day, and as full of untold novelties for him who has the eyes to see them.

I have three masters: Nature, Velazquez and Rembrandt.

Oh that it were my chief delight To do the things I ought! Then let me try with all my might To mind what I am taught.

Note too that a faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel.