But The Works Of Man

A Nation Of Slaves Is Always Prepared To Applaud The Clemency Of Their Master Who, In The Abuse Of Absolute Power, Does Not Proceed To The Last Extremes Of Injustice And Oppression.

It Was The Fashion Of The Times To Attribute Every Remarkable Event To The Particular Will Of The Deity; The Alterations Of Nature Were Connected, By An Invisible Chain, With The Moral And Metaphysical Opinions Of The Human Mind; And The Most Sagacious Divines Could Distinguish, According To The Colour Of Their Respective Prejudices, That The Establishment Of Heresy Tended To Produce An Earthquake, Or That A Deluge Was The Inevitable Consequence Of The Progress Of Sin And Error.

Every Man Who Rises Above The Common Level Has Received Two Educations: The First From His Teachers; The Second, More Personal And Important, From Himself.

It Is Scarcely Possible That The Eyes Of Contemporaries Should Discover In The Public Felicity The Latent Causes Of Decay And Corruption. This Long Peace, And The Uniform Government Of The Romans, Introduced A Slow And Secret Poison Into The Vitals Of The Empire. The Minds Of Men Were Gradually Reduced To The Same Level, The Fire Of Genius Was Extinguished, And Even The Military Spirit Evaporated.

One Must Search Diligently To Find Laudatory Comments On Education (other Than Those Pious Platitudes Which Are Fodder For Commencement Speeches). It Appears That Most Persons Who Have Achieved Fame And Success In The World Of Ideas Are Cynical About Formal Education. These People Are A Select Few, Who Often Achieved Success In Spite Of Their Education, Or Even Without It. As Has Been Said, The Clever Largely Educate Themselves, Those Less Able Aren't Sufficiently Clever Or Imaginative To Benefit Much From Education.