"When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be."

"If the mass of people hesitate to act, strike with swiftly and with boldness, the brave heart that understands and seizes opportunity can everything."

"He who has a task to perform must know how to take sides, or he is quite unworthy of it."

"If you treat an individual... as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be."

"When you praise someone you call yourself his equal"

"I do not speak of what I cannot praise."

"A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise."

"If any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his thoughts."

"Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one."

"Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them."

"If youth is a fault, it is one which is soon corrected"

"What is not fully understood is not possessed."

"The solution of every problem is another problem"

"If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy."

"Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him."

"Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image"

"Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion"

"We need a constitution, we need rules, but we don't need a wall,"

"Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose."

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

"I know nothing more mocking than a devil that despairs."

"Unlike grown ups, children have little need to deceive themselves."

"We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves."

"Who never ate his bread in sorrow, who never sat the sorrowful nights weeping on his bed, he knows you not, you heavenly Powers."