If the painter has clumsy hands, he will be apt to introduce them into his works, and so of any other part of his person, which may not happen to be so beautiful as it ought to be. He must, therefore, guard particularly against that self-love, or too good opinion of his own person, and study by every means to acquire the knowledge of what is most beautiful, and of his own defects, that he may adopt the one and avoid the other.

Usually youth is for freedom and reform, maturity for judicious compromise, and old age for stability and repose.

Minds ripen at very different ages.

What is important is not the quantity of your knowledge but its quality. You can know many things without knowing the most important.

I believe there exists, & I feel within me, an instinct for the truth, or knowledge or discovery, of something of the same nature as the instinct of virtue, & that our having such an instinct is reason enough for scientific researches without any practical results ever ensuing from them.

Deep knowledge from your manager goes a long way toward motivating you. And I have a pretty good capability for that.