The great world's altar stairs
That slope through darkness up to God.

The great world's altar stairs
That slope through darkness up to God.

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art
grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; read more

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art
grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God
which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.

Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.

Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and read more

Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.

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.

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.

You cannot hammer a girl into anything. She grows as a flower does, she will wither without sun; she will read more

You cannot hammer a girl into anything. She grows as a flower does, she will wither without sun; she will decay in her sheath as a narcissus will if you do not give her air enough; she might fall and defile her head in dust if you leave her without help at some moments in her life; but you cannot fetter her; she must take her own fair form and way if she take any.

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.

Alas! worse every day! this colony grows backward like the tail
of a calf.
[Lat., Heu quotidie pejus! read more

Alas! worse every day! this colony grows backward like the tail
of a calf.
[Lat., Heu quotidie pejus! haec colonia retroversus crescit
tanquam coda vituli.]