“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

— Abigail Adams, Letter to John Quincy Adams, 8 May 1780

About Abigail Adams

1744 – 1818

American First Lady and prolific letter writer, wife of John Adams.

“How few have souls capable of so noble an undertaking!”

“I wish most sincerely there was not a slave in this province.”

“Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.”

“A bad book is as much of a labour to write as a good one; it comes as sincerely from the author's soul.”

“A man is educated and turned out to work. But a woman is educated — and turned out to grass.”

“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

“The wisest man may be wiser to-day than he was yesterday, and to-morrow than he is to-day.”

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!”

“Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around.”