We <em>are</em> very much what others <em>think of us</em>. The reception our observations meet with gives us courage to proceed, or damps our effort… - William Hazlitt

The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test; for it is on that on which our success in life depends.

He understands the texture and meaning of the visible universe, and 'sees into the life of things,' not by the help of mechanical instruments, but of the improved exercise of his faculties, and an intimate sympathy with Nature. The meanest thing is not lost upon him, for he looks at it with an eye to itself, not merely to his own vanity or interest, or the opinion of the world. Even where there is neither beauty nor use — if that ever were — still there is truth, and a sufficient source of gratification in the indulgence of curiosity and activity of mind. The humblest printer is a true scholar; and the best of scholars - the scholar of Nature.

All that is worth remembering in life, is the poetry of it