...each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it read more

...each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.

Positive self-esteem operates as, in effect, the immune system of the consciousness, providing resistance, strength, and a capacity for regeneration. read more

Positive self-esteem operates as, in effect, the immune system of the consciousness, providing resistance, strength, and a capacity for regeneration. When self-esteem is low, our resilience in the face of life's adversities is diminished. We crumble before vicissitudes that a healthier sense of self could vanquish. We tend to be more influenced by the desire to avoid pain than to experience joy. Negatives have more power over us than positives.

Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him
absolutely no good.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him
absolutely no good.

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.

The rout is Folly's circle, which she draws
With magic wand. So potent is the spell,
That read more

The rout is Folly's circle, which she draws
With magic wand. So potent is the spell,
That none decoy'd into that fatal ring,
Unless by Heaven's peculiar grace, escape.
There we grow early gray, but never wise.

The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it read more

The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it will ridicule any departure from it.

Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the read more

Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat.

Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow if tomorrow might improve the odds.

Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow if tomorrow might improve the odds.