John Lancaster Spalding

Altruism is a barbarism. Love is the word.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Solitude is unbearable for those who can not bear themselves.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Whom little things occupy and keep busy, are little men.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Contradiction is the salt which keeps truth from corruption

— John Lancaster Spalding

Break not the will of the young, but guide it to right ends.

— John Lancaster Spalding

What we love to do we find time to do.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Education would be a divine thing, if it did nothing more than help us to think and love great thoughts instead of…

— John Lancaster Spalding

Whoever has freed himself from envy and bitterness may begin to try to see things as they are.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Thy money, thy office, thy reputation are nothing; put away these phantom clothings, and stand like an athlete stripped for the battle.

— John Lancaster Spalding

The common man is impelled and controlled by interests; the superior, by ideas.

— John Lancaster Spalding

As we can not love what is hateful, let us accustom ourselves neither to think nor to speak of disagreeable things and…

— John Lancaster Spalding

The more we live with what we imagine others think of us, the less we live with truth.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Exercise of body and exercise of mind are supplementary, and both may be made recreative and educative.

— John Lancaster Spalding

If there were nothing else to trouble us, the fate of the flowers would make us sad.

— John Lancaster Spalding

Dislike of another's opinions and beliefs neither justifies our own nor makes us more certain of them: and to transfer the repugnance…

— John Lancaster Spalding

No sooner does a divine gift reveal itself in youth or maid than its market value becomes the decisive consideration, and the…

— John Lancaster Spalding

A Wise man knows that much of what he says and does is commonplace and trivial. His thoughts are not all solemn…

— John Lancaster Spalding

The study of law is valuable as a mental discipline, but the practice of pleading tends to make one petty, formal, and…

— John Lancaster Spalding

To think of education as a means of preserving institutions however excellent, is to have a superficial notion of its end and…

— John Lancaster Spalding

We have lost the old love of work, of work which kept itself company, which was fair weather and music in the…

— John Lancaster Spalding

We may avoid much disappointment and bitterness of soul by learning to understand how little necessary to our joy and peace are…

— John Lancaster Spalding

What is greatly desired, but long deferred, gives little pleasure, when at length it is ours, for we have lived with it…

— John Lancaster Spalding

Our prejudices are like physical infirmities — we cannot do what they prevent us from doing.

— John Lancaster Spalding

If all were gentle and contented as sheep, all would be as feeble and helpless.

— John Lancaster Spalding

If thou wouldst be interesting, keep thy personality in the background, and be great and strong in and through thy subject.

— John Lancaster Spalding

If ancient descent could confer nobility, the lower forms of life would possess it in a greater degree than man.

— John Lancaster Spalding

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

— John Lancaster Spalding

The power of free will is developed and confirmed by increasing the number of worthy motives which influence conduct.

— John Lancaster Spalding

The writers who accomplish most are those who compel thought on the highest and most profoundly interesting subjects.

— John Lancaster Spalding

The ploughman knows how many acres he shall upturn from dawn to sunset: but the thinker knows not what a day may…

— John Lancaster Spalding

If thou wouldst help others deal with them as though they were what they should be

— John Lancaster Spalding

We are not masters of the truth which is borne in upon us: it overpowers us.

— John Lancaster Spalding

In the world of thought a man's rank is determined, not by his average work, but by his highest achievement.

— John Lancaster Spalding

The common prejudice against philosophy is the result of the incapacity of the multitude to deal with the highest problems.

— John Lancaster Spalding

It is a common error to imagine that to be stirring and voluble in a worthy cause is to be good and…

— John Lancaster Spalding

We are made ridiculous less by our defects than by the affectation of qualities which are not ours.

— John Lancaster Spalding

A hobby is the result of a distorted view of things. It is putting a planet in the place of a sun.

— John Lancaster Spalding

When we know and love the best we are content to lack the approval of the many.

— John Lancaster Spalding

As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot…

— John Lancaster Spalding

“Care not who is richer or more learned than thou, if none be more generous and loving.”

— John Lancaster Spalding