John Lancaster Spalding (1840 – 1916)
First bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria from 1877 to 1908, a notable scholarly writer of the time and, a co-founder of The Catholic University of America.
Solitude is unbearable for those who can not bear themselves.
When we have not the strength or the courage to grasp a new truth, we persuade ourselves that it is not a truth at all.
It is difficult to be sure of our friends, but it is possible to be certain of our loyalty to them.
Culture makes the whole world our dwelling place; our palace in which we take our ease and find ourselves at one with all things.
Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.
Base thy life on principle, not on rules.
Faith, like love, unites; opinion, like hate, separates.
The writers who accomplish most are those who compel thought on the highest and most profoundly interesting subjects.
We may avoid much disappointment and bitterness of soul by learning to understand how little necessary to our joy and peace are the things the multitude most desire and seek.
Say not thou lackest talent. What talent had any of the greatest, but passionate faith in the efficacy of work?
The able have no desire to appear to be so, and this is part of their ability.
The power of free will is developed and confirmed by increasing the number of worthy motives which influence conduct.
Wouldst thou bestow some precious gift upon thy fellows, make thyself a noble man.
The ploughman knows how many acres he shall upturn from dawn to sunset: but the thinker knows not what a day may bring forth.
Conversation injures more than it benefits. Men talk to escape from themselves, from sheer dread of silence. Reflection makes them uncomfortable, and they find distraction in a noise of words. They seek not the company of those who might enlighten and improve them, but that of whoever can divert and amuse them. Thus the intercourse which ought to be a chief means of education, is for the most part, the occasion of mental and moral enfeeblement.
The smaller the company, the larger the conversation.
Drunkards and sensualists have become heroes and saints; but sluggards have never risen to the significance and worth of human beings. Sloth enfeebles the root of life, and degrades more surely, if less swiftly, than the sins of passion.
Each individual bears within himself an ideal man, and to bring him forth in perfect form is his divinely imposed life-work.
If truth make us not truthful, what service can it render us?
Believe in no triumph which is won by the deadening of human faculty or the dwarfing of human life. Strive for truth and love, not for victory.