Inspiration and Wisdom from the Writings of Thomas Paine by
Joseph Lewis  Any person who has made observations on the state
and progress of the human mind by observing his own cannot but
have observed that there are two distinct classes of what are
called thoughts -- those that we produce in ourselves by
reflection and the act of thinking, and those that bolt into the
mind of their own accord. I have always made it a rule to treat
these voluntary visitors with civility, taking care to examine,
as well as I was able, if they were worth entertaining, and it
is from them I have acquired almost all the knowledge that I
have. As to the learning that any person gains from school
education, it serves only, like a small capital, to put him in a
way of beginning learning for himself afterward.
Everything, therefore, is a miracle in one sense, while in the
other sense there is no such thing as a miracle. It is a miracle
when compared to our power and to our comprehension, it is not a
miracle compared to the