Human Improvement Is From Within

As We Advance In Life, We Learn The Limits Of Our Abilities.

High Original Genius Is Always Ridiculed On Its First Appearance; Most Of All By Those Who Have Won Themselves The Highest Reputation In Working On The Established Lines. Genius Only Commands Recognition When It Has Created The Taste Which Is To Appreciate It.

We Are Complex, And Therefore, In Our Natural State, Inconsistent, Beings, And The Opinion Of This Hour Need Not Be The Opinion Of The Next.

That Which Especially Distinguishes A High Order Of Man From A Low Order Of Man, That Which Constitutes Human Goodness, Human Nobleness, Is Surely Not The Degree Of Enlightenment With Which Men Pursue Their Own Advantage; But It Is Self-forgetfulness; It Is Self-sacrifice; It Is The Disregard Of Personal Pleasure, Personal Indulgence, Personal Advantage, Remote Or Present, Because Some Other Line Of Conduct Is More Right.

Now, To A Single-minded Man, Who Is Either Brave Enough Or Reckless Enough To Surrender Himself Wholly To One Idea, And Look Neither Right Nor Left, But Only Forward, What Earthly Consequences May Follow Is Not Material. Persecution Strengthens Him; And So He Is Sure He Is Right, Whether His Course End In A Prison Or On A Throne Is No Matter At All. But Men Of This Calibre Are Uncommon In Any Age Or In Any Country Very Uncommon In This Age And This Country.