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

— Amos Bronson Alcott, The Doctrine and Discipline of Human Culture, 1836, p. 13

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.”

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

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

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”