Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge.

Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.

If we all can persevere, if we can in every land and office look beyond our own shores and ambitions, then surely the age will dawn in which the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

It is stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition.

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts prosecution.

As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.

No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge.

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.

The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.

No one can draw more out of things, books included, than he already knows. A man has no ears for that to which experience has given him no access.

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.