At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world. When he is seventy read more

At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world. When he is seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he knows he can't.

Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess which will itself need reforming.

Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess which will itself need reforming.

The hole and the patch should be commensurate.

The hole and the patch should be commensurate.

A reformer is a man who rides through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat.

A reformer is a man who rides through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat.

All zeal for a reform, that gives offence
To peace and charity, is mere pretence.

All zeal for a reform, that gives offence
To peace and charity, is mere pretence.

Grant that the old Adam in these persons may be so buried, that
the new man may be raised read more

Grant that the old Adam in these persons may be so buried, that
the new man may be raised up in them.

What is a man born for but to be a reformer, a remaker of what has been made, a denouncer read more

What is a man born for but to be a reformer, a remaker of what has been made, a denouncer of lies, a restorer of truth and good?

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.

The church is always trying to get other people to reform; it might not be a bad idea to reform read more

The church is always trying to get other people to reform; it might not be a bad idea to reform itself.