Conscience enables us not merely to learn the right by experiment and induction, but intuitively and in advance of experiment; so, in addition to the experimental way whereby we learn justice from the facts of human history, we have a transcendental way, and learn it from the facts of human nature, and from immediate consciousness.

Meaning: The saying claims that correcting one person improves many others. It treats a response to a single action as an example that a wider group may notice.

Meaning: The saying demands that children observe quietly without speaking. It expresses an adult preference for obedience, but a modern reading should question that demand: children need opportunities to ask, contribute and report concerns, rather than have silence treated as a virtue.

Meaning: Small birds sing as nature stirs their instincts, and people too feel a renewed desire to set out on journeys. The difficult words describe springtime energy, not foolish people or bravery.

Meaning: Unpleasant early weather is linked with a pleasing later display of flowers. The sequence can express hope that present conditions help prepare a later benefit.