Page:Three Thousand Selected Quotations from Brilliant Writers.djvu/589

Rh If you are not a thinking man, to what purpose are you a man at all? —.

Every man has some peculiar train of thought which he falls back upon when he is alone. This, to a great degree, moulds the man. —.

Thinking leads me to knowledge. He may see and hear, and read and learn, and as much as he pleases; he will never know any of it, except that which he has thought over, that which by thinking he has made the property of his mind. Is it then saying too much if I say, that man by thinking only becomes truly a man? Take away thought from man's life, and what remains?

Good thoughts are true wealth; they are fountains of living water; they are gems that always shine; they are impenetrable shields to protect the character; they are goodly apparel for the mind; they are right noble companions; they are fair angels of light; they are flowers of rich beauty and sweet fragrance; they are seeds of noble actions and noble institutions; they are moulds in which exalted characters are formed; they make good and great men; they are a nation's mightiest bulwarks. A good thought is a grand legacy to bequeath to the world.

They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts. —.

An arrow may fly through the air, and leave no trace; but an ill thought leaves a trail like a serpent.