“Believe, youth, despite all temptations, the oracle of deity in your own bosom.”

— Amos Bronson Alcott, Orphic Sayings, 1840-1841, I. Spirit, 6. Oracle

About Amos Bronson Alcott

1799 – 1888

American teacher and transcendentalist philosopher, father of Louisa May Alcott.

“Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.”

“Genius is but the free and harmonious play of all the faculties of a human being.”

“Faith is the soul of all improvement. It is the Will of an Idea.”

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”

“The instructions of an old man are precious.”

“Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom.”

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.”

“I call upon you, young men, to obey your heart, and be the nobility of this land.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”