Amos Bronson Alcott

To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant

Who knows, the mind has the key to all things besides

First find the man in yourself if you will inspire manliness in others

Observation more than books, experience rather than persons, are the prime educators

Success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats.

That is a good book which is opened with expectation, and closed with delight and profit

One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well

Strengthen me by sympathizing with my strength, not my weakness

We climb to heaven most often on the ruins of our cherished plans, finding our failures were successes

Who speaks to the instincts speaks to the deepest in mankind, and finds the readiest response.

To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent that is to triumph over old age

Debate is masculine, conversation is feminine

A true teacher defends his students against his own personal influences

Civilization degrades the many to exalt the few

The less routine the more life

Our ideals are our better selves

A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay

Thought means life, since those who do not think so do not live in any high or real sense. Thinking makes the man

While one finds company in himself and his pursuits, he cannot feel old, no matter what his years may be