Admire and adore the Author of the telescopic universe, love and esteem the work, do all in your power to lessen ill, and increase good, but never assume to comprehend.
John AdamsRead
It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of nurturing and empowering children to develop strong values and ambitions.
In this quote, John Adams speaks to the responsibility adults have in guiding and uplifting children. He advocates for fostering a mindset in children that not only encourages them to develop their virtues, ambitions, and faculties but also instills in them a strong disdain for mediocrity, injustice, and cruelty. Adams warns that if children are not encouraged to strive for greatness from a young age, they may remain stagnant and fail to realize their full potential throughout their lives.
Themes
ChildrenEducationCourageAmbitionValues
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech encouraging young leaders to reach their potential.
More from John Adams
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Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.
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There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.
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Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
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The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals.
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