If you first gain power to check your words, you will then begin to have power to check your judgment, and at length actually gain power to check your thoughts and reflections.

The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgement should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge.

Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.

Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes as a judge.

I would sooner have the approval of my own conscience and know that I had done my duty than to have the praise of all of the world and not have the approval of my own conscience. A man's conscience, when he is living as he should, is the finest monitor and the best judge in all the world.

Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment.

The effects of our actions may be postponed but they are never lost. There is an inevitable reward for good deeds and an inescapable punishment for bad.