The gem cannot be polished without friction, not a man perfected without trials.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, not a man perfected without trials.

In a narrow circle the mind contracts.
Man grows with his expanded needs.
[Ger., Im engen Kreis read more

In a narrow circle the mind contracts.
Man grows with his expanded needs.
[Ger., Im engen Kreis verengert sich der Sinn.
Es wachst der Mensch mit seinen grossern Zwecken.]

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

He is of the race of the mushroom; he covers himself altogether
with his head.
[Lat., Fungino genere read more

He is of the race of the mushroom; he covers himself altogether
with his head.
[Lat., Fungino genere est; capite se totum tegit.]

What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
read more

What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets;
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men read more

I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men may rise on stepping stones
Or their dead selves to higher things.

Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.

Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.

Our pleasures and our discontents,
Are rounds by which we may ascend.

Our pleasures and our discontents,
Are rounds by which we may ascend.