“It is much better for you that they should fail in obeying the greatest rule laid down by our Saviour, than that you should.”

Placing personal moral conduct above disappointment in other people · Letter to Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens, 1868

• Faith
• Truth

“It seems to me it ought to be the pleasantest library in the world.”

Imagining the library as a place of pleasure rather than mere instruction · Speech, Glasgow, 28 December 1847

• Art
• Joy

“I should prefer an intimate association with it now, in its early days and apparent struggles, to becoming its advocate and acquaintance, its fair-weather friend, in its high and palmy days.”

Valuing loyalty during difficulty above attachment after success · Speech, Birmingham, 28 February 1844

• Friendship
• Hope