“To teach a man how he may learn to grow independently, and for himself, is perhaps the greatest service that one man can do another.”

My dear child, you must believe in God despite what the clergy tells you.

Young men make great mistakes in life; for one thing, they idealize love too much.

Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.

There is a great deal of hard lying in the world; especially among people whose characters are above suspicion.

I am not blaming the past. … But I want the peace of God to settle on the future.

Precautions are always blamed. When successful they are said to be unnecessary.

If you don’t find a God by five o’clock this afternoon you must leave the college.

It is most important in this world to be pushing, but it is fatal to seem so.

We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice or kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, unique.

Grace is an energy; not a mere sentiment; not a mere thought of the Almighty; not even a word of the Almighty.

We can’t search or attain well being, wealth, studying, justice or kindness usually. Action is all the time particular, concrete, individualized, distinctive.

Give the clergy your sympathy; don’t give them anything else.

The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.

Plato’s dialogues bear at least some similarities to the classical plays.

Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the [Oxford] common rooms, and to widen the intellectual horizons of the place.

One man is as good as another until he has written a book.

Habit is a second nature, or rather, it is ‘ten times nature’.

When you’re buying a pair of TOMS, if you don’t feel like you’re part of a community, then I’ve failed.

Sociologists well understand that chaos at home causes violent behavior, educational failure and social alienation among children.

Service standards keep rising. As competitors render better and better service, customers become more demanding. Their expectations grow.

The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.

The Metropolitan Police Service is still, despite what people think, a working-class organisation and as such rejects totally the notion of an officer class.

The biggest atrocity of all is to indoctrinate our children into a system that does not value their creative expression, nor encourage their unique abilities.

Don’t let failure deter you; use it as a stepping-stone and an educational experience towards making your mark on the world.