I have been contending all my life, and always with God. Lincoln Steffens More Quotes by Lincoln Steffens More Quotes From Lincoln Steffens We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are, the harder we believe in axioms. Lincoln Steffens atheismforgetbelieve It is our knowledge - the things we are sure of - that makes the world go wrong and keeps us from seeing and learning. Lincoln Steffens seeingworld First in violence, deepest in dirt, lawless, unlovely, ill-smelling, irreverent, new; an overgrown gawk of a - village, the "tough" among cities, a spectacle for the nation. Lincoln Steffens villagechicagocities The commercial spirit is the spirit of profit, not patriotism; of credit, not honor; of individual gain, not national prosperity; of trade and dickering, not principle. Lincoln Steffens creditprincipleshonor The politer the society, the greater the lies it requires. Lincoln Steffens atheismfearlying We need some great failures. Especially we ever-successful Americans - conscious, intelligent, illuminating failures. Lincoln Steffens intelligentsuccessfulneeds he thoughtless knowers will call you a red or a communist or a capitalist or some name that expresses their aversion to any mental activity. But somebody must take a chance. The monkeys did who became men, and the monkeys who didn't are still jumping around in the trees making faces at us monkeys who did. Lincoln Steffens jumpingtreemen You can't control a young horse unless you control yourself. Lincoln Steffens horseyoung The best picture has not yet been painted; the greatest poem is still unsung; the mightiest novel remains to be written; the divinest music has not been conceived, even by Bach. In science, probably ninety-nine percent of the knowable has not yet been discovered. Lincoln Steffens best-pictureninety-nineopportunity The unknown is the province of the student; it is the field for his lifes adventure, and it is a wide field full of beckonings Lincoln Steffens fieldsstudentsadventure I hunted far enough to suspect that the Fathers of the Republic who wrote our Sacred Constitution of the United States not only did not, but did not want to, establish a democratic government. Lincoln Steffens constitution-of-the-united-statesgovernmentfather My father seemed always to know not only what I was doing, but what I was being. Lincoln Steffens knowsfather My father, the practical joker, did not care for practical jokes on himself; he did not encourage the practice in me. Lincoln Steffens carepracticefather My father would invite me sweetly to come and sit on a stool at his feet, and, as I let myself trustingly down, he would gently kick the seat from under me - and laugh. Lincoln Steffens feetlaughingfather My father made with me one serious mistake which I see parents about me making. He got himself somehow into the awkward position of an authority; I thought he knew and was right on everything - for a while. Lincoln Steffens parentmistakefather My summary of all our experiences was that it showed that heaven and hell are one place, and we all go there. To those who are prepared, it is heaven; to those who are not fit and ready, it is hell. Lincoln Steffens hellfitheaven It is possible to get an education at a university. It has been done; not often. Lincoln Steffens universityhas-beensdone I let my boy go and do and say pretty much as he likes, as, and perhaps because, my father kept no string on me. Lincoln Steffens likesboysfather So youve been over into Russia? said Bernard Baruch, and I answered very literally, I have been over into the future and it works. Lincoln Steffens has-beensrussiasaid The Soviet government sprouted and grew out of the habits, the psychology, and the condition of the Russian people. It fitted them. They understand it. Lincoln Steffens psychologygovernmentpeople
