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Amos Bronson Alcott Quotes (1799-1888)
Philosopher, Writer
About Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott (November 29, 1799 β March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a vegan diet before the term was coined. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.
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βOur ideals are our better selves.β
βMany can argue, not many converse.β
βConceive of slaughter and flesh-eating in Eden.β
βOne must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.β
βFaith is the soul of all improvement. It is the Will of an Idea.β
βDivination seems heightened and raised to its highest power in woman.β
βMemory marks the horizon of our consciousness, imagination its zenith.β
βTruth is sensitive and jealous of the least encroachment upon its sacredness.β
βAn author who sets his reader on sounding the depths of his own thoughts serves him best.β
βWho loves a garden still his Eden keeps;
Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvests reaps.β
Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvests reaps.β
βYet the deepest truths are best read between the lines, and, for the most part, refuse to be written.β
βThe preference of Jesus for Conversation, as the fittest organ of utterance, is a striking proof of his comprehensive Idea of Education.β
βEvil is retributive: every trespass slips fetters on the will, holds the soul in durance till contrition and repentance restore it to liberty.β
βThere is virtue in country houses, in gardens and orchards, fields, streams and groves, in rustic recreations and plain manners, that neither cities nor universities enjoy.β
βNature is the armory of genius. Cities serve it poorly; books and colleges at second-hand; the eye craves the spectacle of the horizon, of mountain, ocean, river and plain, the clouds and stars: actual contact with the elements, sympathy with the seasons as these rise and fall.β
βCruelty stares at me from the butcher's face. I tread amidst carcasses. I am in the presence of the slain. The death-set eyes of beasts peer at me and accuse me of belonging to the race of murderers. Quartered, disembowelled creatures on suspended hooks plead with me. I feel myself dispossessed of the divinity.β
Amos Bronson Alcott Quotes by Topic
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Amos Bronson Alcott on Conversation 3 quotes
βMany can argue, not many converse.β
Amos Bronson Alcott on Travel 2 quotes
View all 2 quotes on Travel →Amos Bronson Alcott on Libraries
Amos Bronson Alcott on Friendship
βStay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.β
Amos Bronson Alcott on Sympathy
Amos Bronson Alcott on Ignorance
Amos Bronson Alcott on Books
βThat is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed with profit.β
Amos Bronson Alcott on Genius
Amos Bronson Alcott on Truth
βYet the deepest truths are best read between the lines, and, for the most part, refuse to be written.β
What Amos Bronson Alcott Said About Others
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Amos Bronson Alcott on Louisa May Alcott
βStay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.β
Amos Bronson Alcott on Women
βDivination seems heightened and raised to its highest power in woman.β
Quotes About Amos Bronson Alcott
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Randall Fuller on Amos Bronson Alcott
βAlcottβs response to the theory of natural selection was to reject its materialism out of hand. At the same time, he borrowed its outlines so as to imagine a world filled with creatures that had descended from original perfection. In essence he applied Platonic ideals to evolutionary theory. Even Agassiz, the most idealistic scientist in America, understood that this approach was nonsense.β
About Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott (November 29, 1799 β March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a vegan diet before the term was coined. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.
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