Amos Bronson Alcott quotes - page 2

In the theocracy of the soul majorities do not rule. God and the saints; against them the rabble of sinners, with clamorous voices and uplifted hand, striving to silence the oracle of the private heart. Beelzebub marshals majorities. Prophets and reformers are always special enemies of his and his minions. Multitudes ever lie. Every age is a Judas, and betrays its Messiahs into the hands of the multitude. The voice of the private, not popular heart, is alone authentic. (Amos Bronson Alcott)
As the man, so his God. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Our dreams drench us in senses, and senses steps us again in dreams. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Observation more than books, experience rather than persons, are the prime educators. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
A work of real merit finds favor at last. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
There is virtue in country houses, in gardens and orchards, in fields, streams and groves, in rustic recreations and plain manners, that neither cities nor universities enjoy. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
The traveled mind is the universal mind educated from exclusiveness and egotism. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Who loves a garden, still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvests reaps. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Devotees of grammatical studies have not been distinguished for any very remarkable felicities of expression. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable. (Amos Bronson Alcott)
Ever present, potent, vigilant, in the breast of man, there is that which never became a party in his guilt. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
It is refreshing, amidst the inane common-places bandied in pulpits and parlors, to hear a hopeful word from an earnest, upright soul. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Enduring fame is ever posthumous. The orbs of virtue and genius seldom culminate during their terrestrial periods. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Believe, youth, despite all temptations, the oracle of deity in your own bosom. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
The seraphs descend from heaven, in the solitudes of meditation, in the stillness of prayer. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
I read more of the Bhagavad Gita and felt how surpassingly fine were the sentiments. These, or selections from this book should be included in a Bible for Mankind. I think them superior to any of the other Oriental scriptures, the best of all reading for wise men. .... Best of books - containing wisdom blander and far more sane than that of the Hebrews, whether in the mind of Moses or of Him of Nazareth. Were I a preacher, I would venture sometimes to take from its texts the motto and moral of my discourse. It would be healthful and invigorating to breathe some of this mountain air into the lungs of Christendom. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
Ever present, potent, vigilant, in the breast of man, there is that which never became a party in his guilt, never consented to a wrong deed, nor performed one, but holds itself above all sin, impeccable, immaculate, immutable, the deity of the heart, the conscience of the soul, the oracle and interpreter, the judge and executor of the divine law. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott
The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-trust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciples. A noble artist, he has visions of excellence and revelations of beauty, which he has neither impersonated in character, nor embodied in words. His life and teachings are but studies for yet nobler ideals. View quote
Amos Bronson Alcott