“Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.”

“Education is like pruning ; it wrecks the natural growth of the tree in favour of a form that is useful to commercial society”

“study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

“The study of Nature makes a man at last as remorseless as Nature.”

“Your children will be like olive shootsaround your table." -Psalm 128:3Children are likened to olive plants. Olive plants, if not pruned and controlled, become a wild nuisance. On the other hand, small olive plants that are nurtured and trained in the way they should grow do not grow wild and do not have scars from pruning since the pruning is done while they are young and tender. The later you do the training, the more scars they will have and the less likely there will will be success in directing their growth.”

“Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.”