Colors answer feeling in man; shapes answer thought; and motion answers will.

- John Sterling

Man is a substance clad in shadows.

- John Sterling

Pain has its own noble joy, when it starts a strong consciousness of life, from a stagnant one.

- John Sterling

The worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that.

- John Sterling

Instinct is intelligence incapable of self-consciousness.

- John Sterling

There is no lie that a man will not believe; and there is no man who does not believe many lies; and there is no man who believes only lies.

- John Sterling

Toil, feel, think, hope; you will be sure to dream enough before you die, without arranging for it.

- John Sterling

Of all the tyrants the world affords, our own affections are the fiercest lords.

- John Sterling