John Lancaster Spalding: Making

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 76

Perfection , Happiness

“The study of law is valuable as a mental discipline, but the practice of pleading tends to make one petty, formal, and insincere. To be driven to look to legality rather than to equity blurs the view of truth and justice.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 78

Truth , Justice , Law , Study

“A principal aim of education is to give students a taste for literature, for the books of life and power, and to accomplish this, it is necessary that their minds be held aloof from the babblement and discussions of the hour, that they may accustom themselves to take interest in the words and deeds of the greatest men, and so make themselves able and worthy to shape a larger and nobler future; but if their hours of leisure are spent over journals and reviews, they will, in later years, become the helpless victims of the newspaper habit.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 148

Life , Men , Books , Education

“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.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 180

Personality

“It is the business of the teacher … to fortify reason and to make conscience sovereign.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 242

Business , Teachers

“States of soul rightly expressed, as the poet expresses them in moments of pure inspiration, retain forever the power of creating like states. It is this that makes genuine literature a vital force.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 172

Soul , Literature

“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?”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 208

Religion , Study , Science , Parting

“The weak, when they have authority, surround themselves with the weak. It is, indeed, a vice of rulers that men who have exceptional ability and worth are offensive to them, since they whose greatness is due to their position find it difficult to love those whom inner power makes great.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Aphorisms and Reflections (1901)

Love , Men

“Place before thyself the ideal of perfection, not that of happiness, for by doing what makes thee wiser and better, thou shalt find the peace and joy in which happiness consists.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 114

Peace , Joy , Perfection , Happiness

“Friends humor and flatter us, they steal our time, they encourage our love of ease, they make us content with ourselves, they are the foes of our virtue and our glory.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 22

Love , Time

“More inspiring and interesting teaching alone can make progress in education possible: for such teaching alone has power to produce greater self-activity, greater concentration of mind, greater desire to learn not only how to get a living, but how to live.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 226

Education , Learning

“Each one fashions and bears his world with him, and that unless he himself become wise, strong and loving, no change in his circumstances can make him rich or free or happy.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 5

Love , World , Fashion , Strong

“Wouldst thou bestow some precious gift upon thy fellows, make thyself a noble man.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 263

“If truth make us not truthful, what service can it render us?”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 165

Truth

“Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 233

People , Age , Thinking , Country

“What a wise man knows seems so plain and simple to himself that he easily makes the mistake of thinking it to be so for others.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 233

Thinking

“To how much lying, extravagance, hypocrisy and servilism does not the fear of ridicule lead? Human respect makes us cowards and slaves. It may deter from evil, but much oftener it drives to baseness. “We are too much afraid,” said Cato, “of death, exile and poverty.””

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 171

Death , Fear , Lying , Evil

“Culture makes the whole world our dwelling place; our palace in which we take our ease and find ourselves at one with all things.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 197

World

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

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 215

“Insight makes argument ridiculous.”

John Lancaster Spalding

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 201