John Comenius Quotes & Sayings

We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate people because they were born in another country, because they speak a different language, or because they take a different view on this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are all equally human ... Let us have but one end in view: the welfare of humanity. — John Amos Comenius

Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion. — John Amos Comenius

The school is the manufactory of humanity. — John Amos Comenius

Boyhood is distracted for years with precepts of grammar that are infinitely prolix, perplexed and obscure. — John Amos Comenius

If, in each hour, a man could learn a single fragment of some branch of knowledge, a single rule of some mechanical art, a single pleasing story or proverb (the acquisition of which would require no effort), what a vast stock of learning he might lay by. Seneca is therefore right when he says: "Life is long, if we know how to use it." It is consequently of importance that we understand the art of making the very best use of our lives. — John Amos Comenius

No distinction seems to be more obvious than that between spiritual and temporal matters. Yet whenever they have been made objects of Legislation, they have clashed and contended with each other, till one or the other has gained the supremacy. — James Madison

[In the case of research director, Willis R. Whitney, whose style was to give talented investigators as much freedom as possible, you may define 'serendipity' as] the art of profiting from unexpected occurrences. When you do things in that way you get unexpected results. Then you do something else and you get unexpected results in another line, and you do that on a third line and then all of a sudden you see that one of these lines has something to do with the other. Then you make a discovery that you never could have made by going on a direct road. — Irving Langmuir

There is in the world no rock or tower of such a height that it cannot be scaled by any man (provided he lack not feet) if ladders are placed in the proper position or steps are cut in the rock, made in the right place, and furnished with railings against the danger of falling over.
If we examine ourselves, we see that our faculties grow in such a manner that what goes before paves the way for what comes after. — John Amos Comenius

There may be some who wish that he would have taken the occasion to first comment on the Brexit vote, but they're not going to abandon him. They're not gonna let the media do it. Romney people? The media could separate his supporters from him, but they can't from Trump. They don't understand this yet. They think one of these times when they do a trick like this it's gonna work and they're gonna be able to really harm [Donald] Trump. — Rush Limbaugh

For more than a hundred years much complaint has been made of the unmethodical way in which schools are conducted, but it is only within the last thirty that any serious attempt has been made to find a remedy for this state of things. And with what result? Schools remain exactly as they were. — John Amos Comenius

He has built a pedestal for her so tall that she is afraid to be lifted atop it, because to fall would mean certain death. But oh, she would rise far, far beyond fear and be held by arms so strong, and love so pure, that falling would not be an option. — Ellen Hopkins

It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all and showing us over and over again the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It was like a best-loved story being told day after day with each sunrise and sunset, year after year with the seasons, down through the ages since time began. — Francine Rivers

But in the machine of today we forget that motors are whirring: the motor, finally, has come to fulfill its function, which is to whirr as a heart beats - and we give no thought to the beating of our heart. Thus, precisely because it is perfect the machine dissembles its own existence instead of forcing itself upon our notice. — Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Not the children of the rich or of the powerful only, but of all alike, boys and girls, both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, in all cities and towns, villages and hamlets, should be sent to school — John Amos Comenius

The proper education of the young does not consist in stuffing their heads with a mass of words, sentences, and ideas dragged together out of various authors, but in opening up their understanding to the outer world, so that a living stream may flow from their own minds, just as leaves, flowers, and fruit spring from the bud on a tree. — John Amos Comenius

Much can be learned in play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances demand it. — John Amos Comenius

Preserve there [bohemia] a hidden seed to glorify thy name. — John Amos Comenius

A sparkling house is a fine thing if the children aren't robbed of their luster in keeping it that way. — Marcelene Cox

Let the main object ... to seek and to find a method of instruction, by which teachers may teach less, but learners learn more. — John Amos Comenius

If human life were long enough to find the ultimate theory, everything would have been solved by previous generations. Nothing would be left to be discovered. — Stephen Hawking

The enemy is not the other, the enemy is you — Jiddu Krishnamurti

The saying "He who teaches others, teaches himself" is very true, not only because constant repetition impresses a fact indelibly on the mind, but because the process of teaching itself gives deeper insight into the subject taught. — John Amos Comenius

Three things give the student the possibility of surpassing his teacher: ask a lot of questions, remember the answers, teach. — John Amos Comenius