Quotes from Amos Bronson Alcott

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

Man is a living lie--a bitter jest Upon himself--a conscious grain of sand Lost in a desert of unconsciousness.

Our favorites are few; since only what rises from the heart reaches it, being caught and carried on the tongues of men wheresoever love and letters journey.

The mind is fast emancipating itself from the dominion of man and of matter. It has let loose fearful forces on the world.

Nor is a day lived if the dawn is left out of it, with the prospects it opens. Who speaks charmingly of nature or of mankind, like him who comes bibulous of sunrise and the fountains of waters?

Where there is a mother in the home, matters go well.

Your real influence is measured by your treatment of yourself.

Nature is thought immersed in matter. . .

Hold fast, therefore, O circular philosopher, to thy centre, and drive the globe along its orbit by the momentum of thy thought.

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

A good book is fruitful of other books; it perpetuates its fame from age to age, and makes eras in the lives of its readers.

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

Health, longevity, beauty, are other names for personal purity; and temperance is the regimen for all.

Many can argue - not many converse.

The wisest and best are repulsive, if they are characterized by repulsive manners. Politeness is an easy virtue, costs little, and has great purchasing power.

Strengthen me by sympathizing with my strength, not my weakness.

Life is one, religion one, creeds are many and diverse.

Agriculture, for an honorable and high-minded man," says Xenophon, "is the best of all occupations and arts by which men procure the means of living.

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

The eyes have a property in things and territories not named in any title-deeds, and are the owners of our choicest possessions.

Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps.

A true teacher defends his students against his own personal influences.

Debate is masculine, conversation is feminine.

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