John Lancaster Spalding Quotes
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If thou canst not hold the golden mean, say and do too little rather than too much.
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Solitude is unbearable for those who can not bear themselves.
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They who no longer believe in principles still proclaim them, to conceal, both from themselves and others, the selfishness of the motives by which they are dominated.
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There are who mistake the spirit of pugnacity for the spirit of piety, and thus harbor a devil instead of an angel.
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A gentleman does not appear to know more or to be more than those with whom he is thrown into company.
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Love finds us young and keeps us so: immortal himself, he permits not age to enter the hearts where he reigns.
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God has not made a world which suits all; how shall a sane man expect to please all?
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Dislike of another’s opinions and beliefs neither justifies our own nor makes us more certain of them: and to transfer the repugnance to the person himself is a mark of a vulgar mind.
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If thou hast sought happiness and missed it, but hast found wisdom instead, thou art fortunate.
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If we are disappointed that men give little heed to what we utter is it for their sake or our own?
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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 them.
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The test of the worth of a school is not the amount of knowledge it imparts, but the self-activity it calls forth.
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If our opinions rest upon solid ground, those who attack them do not make us angry, but themselves ridiculous.
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Let not what thou canst not prevent, though it be the ruin of thy home or country, draw thee from thy proper work.
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Have as little suspicion as possible and conceal that.
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Altruism is a barbarism. Love is the word.
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We do not find it hard to bear with ourselves, though we are full of faults. Why then may we not learn to be tolerant of others?
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No sooner does a divine gift reveal itself in youth or maid than its market value becomes the decisive consideration, and the poor young creatures are offered for sale, as we might sell angels who had strayed among us.
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The disinterested love of truth which culture fosters is akin to the unselfishness which is a characteristic of the good.
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There is some lack either of sense or of character in one who becomes involved in difficulties with the worthless or the vicious.
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True readers … are ready to go through a whole volume, if there be but hope of finding in it a single genuine thought or the mere suggestion even of a truth which has some fresh application to life.
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Insight makes argument ridiculous.
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The teacher does best, not when he explains, but when he impels his pupils to seek themselves the explanation.
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Thy money, thy office, thy reputation are nothing; put away these phantom clothings, and stand like an athlete stripped for the battle.