“It is a great mistake to suppose that education is to supply the place of natural gifts, or that natural gifts could dispense with education.”

Presenting education and natural ability as necessary complements · Letter to Mrs Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 15 May 1843

• Childhood
• Education
• Truth

“The very fact that the All good should have permitted such an intellect to fall into confusion, proves how little we ought to value ourselves on intellectual endowments, apart from our moral use of them.”

Placing moral use above intellectual brilliance as the true measure of worth · Letter to Mrs Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 6 November 1836

• Morality
• Truth

“You will agree with me that the truth is best in every possible emergency.”

Affirming honesty as the safest course even in painful circumstances · Letter to Mrs Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 7 October 1833

• Hope
• Truth