List of John Jay Chapman Quotes

The World Values The Seer Above All Men, And Has Always Done So. Nay, It Values All Men In Proportion As They Partake Of The Character Of Seers. You Love Them Because You Say, These Things Were Not Made, They Were Seen.

A True University Can Never Rest Upon The Will Of One Man. A True University Always Rests Upon The Wills Of Many Divergent-minded Old Men, Who Refuse To Be Disturbed, But Who Growl In Their Kennels.

The Present In New York Is So Powerful That The Past Is Lost.

Inspired Teachers ... Cannot Be Ordered By The Gross From The Factory. They Must Be Discovered One By One, And Brought Home From The Woods And Swamps Like Orchids. They Must Be Placed In A Conservatory, Not In A Carpenter Shop; And They Must Be Honored And Trusted.

We Cannot Hand Our Faith To One Another.... Even In The Middle Ages, When Faith Was Theoretically Uniform, It Was Always Practically Individual.

So Long As There Is Any Subject Which Men May Not Freely Discuss, They Are Timid Upon All Subjects.

The Short Lesson That Comes Out Of Long Experience In Political Agitation Is Something Like This: All The Motive Power In All Of These Movements Is The Instinct Of Religious Feeling. All The Obstruction Comes From Attempting To Rely On Anything Else. Conciliation Is The Enemy.

Wherever You See A Man Who Gives Someone Else's Corruption, Someone Else's Prejudice As A Reason For Not Taking Action Himself, You See A Cog In The Machine That Governs Us.

Good Government Is The Outcome Of Private Virtue.

A Vision Of Truth Which Does Not Call Upon Us To Get Out Of Our Armchair - Why, This Is The Desideratum Of Mankind.

If Any Of You ... Have A Mind To Make Himself Heard A Mile Off, You Must Make A Bonfire Of Your Reputations, And A Close Enemy Of Most Men Who Would Wish You Well.

A Political Organization Is A Transferable Commodity. You Could Not Find A Better Way Of Killing Virtue Than By Packing It Into One Of These Contraptions Which Some Gang Of Thieves Is Sure To Find Useful.