The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us. |
The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means of education |
The thirst for adventure is the vent which Destiny offers; a war, a crusade, a gold mine, a new country, speak to the imagination and offer swing and play to the confined powers. |
The three practical rules, then, which I have to offer, are, --/ Never read a book that is not a year old./ Never read any but the famed books./ Never read any but what you like. |
The times are the masquerade of the eternities |
The torments of martyrdom are probably most keenly felt by the bystanders. |
The torpid artist seeks inspiration at any cost, by virtue or by vice, by friend or by fiend, by prayer or by wine. |
The triumphs of peace have been in some proximity to war. Whilst the hand was still familiar with the sword-hilt, whilst the habits of the camp were still visible in the port and complexion of the gentleman, his intellectual power culminated; the compression and tension of these stern conditions is a training for the finest and softest arts, and can rarely be compensated in tranquil times, except by some analogous vigor drawn from occupations as hardy as war. |
The true artist has the planet for his pedestal; the adventurer, after years of strife, has nothing broader than his shoes |
The true poem is the poet's mind. |
The true source of cheerfulness is benevolence. |
The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man that the country turns out. |
The truth, the hope of any time, must always be sought in minorities |
The two parties which divide the state, the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made |
The universal does not attract us until housed in an individual |