John Lancaster Spalding

Each individual bears within himself an ideal man, and to bring him forth in perfect form is his divinely imposed life-work.

He who leaves school, knowing little, but with a longing for knowledge, will go farther than one who quits, knowing many things, but not caring to learn more.

To think of education as a means of preserving institutions however excellent, is to have a superficial notion of its end and purpose, which is to mould and fashion men who are more than institutions, who create, outgrow, and re-create …

As we can not love what is hateful, let us accustom ourselves neither to think nor to speak of disagreeable things and persons.

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

If our opinions rest upon solid ground, those who attack them do not make us angry, but themselves ridiculous.

The disinterested love of truth which culture fosters is akin to the unselfishness which is a characteristic of the good.

It is the tendency of the study of science to make us patient, humble and attentive to the smallest things. Is not this part of religion?

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

What we enjoy, not what we possess, is ours, and in labouring for the possession of many things, we lose the power to enjoy the best.

When the crowd acclaims its favorites it applauds itself.

When one sense has been bribed the others readily bear false witness.

The innocence which is simply ignorance is not virtue.

A gentleman does not appear to know more or to be more than those with whom he is thrown into company.

There are who mistake the spirit of pugnacity for the spirit of piety, and thus harbor a devil instead of an angel.

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.

It is a large part of learning to know what one wants, and where it may be found in its most authentic form.

What we acquire with joy, we possess with indifference.

A great man, who lives intimately with his admirers, with difficulty escapes being made ridiculous.

Insight makes argument ridiculous.

We truly know only what we have taught ourselves.

The happiness of the ignorant is but an animal’s paradise.

Reform the world within thyself, which is thy proper world.

Base thy life on principle, not on rules.