Pastoral Resources

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.

A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.

There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit.

To a man of pleasure every moment appears to be lost, which partakes not of the vivacity of amusement.

To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.

That he delights in the misery of others no man will confess, and yet what other motive can make a father cruel?

The important question is not, what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount.

The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.

Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.

If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it.

I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: 'What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me."

It is folly for an eminent man to think of escaping censure, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution.

An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person.

A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.

A man must be both stupid and uncharitable who believes there is no virtue or truth but on his own side.

A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of.

A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.

Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts; in a uniform manner.

Nothing is more gratifying to the mind of man than power or dominion.

Is there not some chosen curse, some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man who owes his greatness to his country's ruin!