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There are who mistake the spirit of pugnacity for the spirit of piety, and thus harbor a devil instead of an angel.

John Lancaster Spalding

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John Lancaster Spalding
Age: 76 †
Born: 1840
Born: June 2
Died: 1916
Died: August 25
Author
Biographer
Catholic Priest
Lebanon
Kentucky
Thus
Angel
Devil
Instead
Mistake
Spirit
Harbor
Harbors
Piety

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A gentleman does not appear to know more or to be more than those with whom he is thrown into company.
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Be watchful lest thou lose the power of desiring and loving what appeals to the soul this is the miser's curse this the chain and ball the sensualist drags.
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Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.
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Exercise of body and exercise of mind are supplementary, and both may be made recreative and educative.
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The highest strength is acquired not in overcoming the world, but in overcoming one's self. Learn to be cruel to thyself, to withstand thy appetites, to bear thy sufferings, and thou shalt become free and able.
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If thy friends tire of thee, remember that it is human to tire of everything.
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The study of law is valuable as a mental discipline, but the practice of pleading tends to make one petty, formal, and insincere. To be driven to look to legality rather than to equity blurs the view of truth and justice.
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If we attempt to sink the soul in matter, its light is quenched.
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If there were nothing else to trouble us, the fate of the flowers would make us sad.
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There are few things it is more important to learn than how to live on little and be therewith content: for the less we need what is without, the more leisure have we to live within.
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Each forward step we take we leave some phantom of ourselves behind.
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What we enjoy, not what we possess, is ours, and in labouring for the possession of many things, we lose the power to enjoy the best.
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In education, as in religion and love, compulsion thwarts the purpose for which it is employed.
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Few know the joys that spring from a disinterested curiosity. It is like a cheerful spirit that leads us through worlds filled with what is true and fair, which we admire and love because it is true and fair.
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In giving us dominion over the animal kingdom God has signified His will that we subdue the beast within ourselves.
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We may avoid much disappointment and bitterness of soul by learning to understand how little necessary to our joy and peace are the things the multitude most desire and seek.
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Solitude is unbearable for those who can not bear themselves.
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Insight makes argument ridiculous.
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Thy money, thy office, thy reputation are nothing put away these phantom clothings, and stand like an athlete stripped for the battle.
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Nothing requires so little mental effort as to narrate or follow a story. Hence everybody tells stories and the readers of stories outnumber all others.
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