"The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It is chosen and foreordained and he only holds the key to his own secret."
"Tis the good reader that makes the good book."
"The secret of poetry is never explained - is always new. We have not got farther than mere wonder at the delicacy of the touch, & the eternity it inherits. In every house a child that in mere play utters oracles, & knows not that they are such. 'Tis as easy as breath. 'Tis like this gravity, which holds the Universe together, & none knows what it is."
"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
"In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity."
"What can we see, read, acquire, but ourselves. Take the book, my friend, and read your eyes out, you will never find there what I find."