283 Quotes by Henry Adams

I am not prepared to deny or assert any proposition which concerns myself; but certainly this solitary struggle with platitudinous atoms, called men and women by courtesy, leads me to wish for my wife again. How did I ever hit on the only woman in the world who fits my cravings and never sounds hollow anywhere? Social chemistry-the mutual attraction of equivalent human molecules-is a science yet to be created, for the fact is my daily study and only satisfaction in life.

At the utmost, the active-minded young man should ask of his teacher only mastery of his tools. The young man himself, the subject of education, is a certain form of energy; the object to be gained is economy of his force; the training is partly the clearing away of obstacles, partly the direct application of effort. Once acquired, the tools and models may be thrown away.

All experience is an arch, to build upon.

Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.

Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont Saint Michel, and the business of all is to fight, each in his own way, or to stand guard for each other.

Morality is a private and costly luxury.

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.

Every one must bear his own universe, and most persons are moderately interested in learning how their neighbors have managed to carry theirs.

Young men have a passion for regarding their elders as senile.