Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch
At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb;
Keep clean, be read more

Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch
At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb;
Keep clean, be as fruit, earn life, and watch,
Till the white-wing'd reapers come.

And so all growth that is not towards God
Is growing to decay.

And so all growth that is not towards God
Is growing to decay.

We find comfort among those who agree with us-- growth among those who don't.

We find comfort among those who agree with us-- growth among those who don't.

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

'Tis thus the mercury of man is fix'd,
Strong grows the virtue with his nature mix'd.

'Tis thus the mercury of man is fix'd,
Strong grows the virtue with his nature mix'd.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, not a man perfected without trials.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, not a man perfected without trials.

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.

Besides that, when elsewhere the harvest of wheat is most
abundant, there it comes up less by one-fourth than read more

Besides that, when elsewhere the harvest of wheat is most
abundant, there it comes up less by one-fourth than what you have
sowed. There, methinks, it were a proper place for men to sow
their wild oats, where they would not spring up.
[Lat., Post id, frumenti quum alibi messis maxima'st
Tribus tantis illi minus reddit, quam obseveris.
Heu! istic oportet obseri mores malos,
Si in obserendo possint interfieri.]