Knowledge and timber shouldn’t be much used till they are seasoned.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

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.

Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it—and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again—and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.

Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionately to their occupancy of your thoughts.

Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything—good or bad—that happens in their lives.

To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story.

Much reading is an oppression of the mind, and extinguishes the natural candle, which is the reason of so many senseless scholars in the world.

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

It is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance.

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

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

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.

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.

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

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country.