Dorothea Dix

Steady, firm, and kind government of prisoners is the truest humanity and the best exercise of duty. It is with convicts as with children: unseasonable indulgence, indiscreetly granted, leads to mischiefs which we may deplore but cannot repair.

I was early taught by sorrow to shed tears, and now when sudden joy lights up, or any unexpected sorrow strikes my heart, I find it difficult to repress the full and swelling tide of feeling.

I shall be well enough when I get to Kentucky or Alabama. The tonic I need is the tonic of opposition. That always sets me on my feet.

Time passed solely in the pursuit of pleasure leaves no solid enjoyment for the future; but from the hours you spend in reading and studying useful books, you will gather a golden harvest in future years.

With care and patience, people may accomplish things which, to an indolent person, would appear impossible.

My wish is to be known only thru my work.

We are not sent into this world mainly to enjoy the loveliness therein, nor to sit us down in passive ease; no, we were sent here for action. The soul that seeks to do the will of God with a pure heart, fervently, does not yield to the lethargy of ease.

Why not, when it can be done without exposure or expense, let me rescue some of America's miserable children from vice and guilt?

I have learned to live each day as it comes, and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow.

It is of no use to commit whole pages to memory, merely to recite them once without hesitation; you must think of the meaning more than the words - of the ideas more than the language.

They say, 'Nothing can be done here!' I reply, 'I know no such word in the vocabulary I adopt!'

Indulged habits of dependence create habits of indolence, and indolence opens the portal to petty errors, to many degrading habits, and to vice and crime with their attendant train of miseries.

My happiest hours are spent in school, surrounded by those I hope to benefit.

I have had so much at heart. Defeated, not conquered; disappointed, not discouraged. I have but to be more energetic and more faithful in the difficult and painful vocation to which my life is devoted.

The duties of a teacher are neither few nor small, but they elevate the mind and give energy to the character.

To me, the avocation of a teacher has something elevating and exciting. While surrounded by the young, one may always be doing good.

Your minds may now be likened to a garden, which will, if neglected, yield only weeds and thistles; but, if cultivated, will produce the most beautiful flowers, and the most delicious fruits.