We saw this set in marble on a building in Chicago (don’t remember which one) and captured it in our Moleskine:

Don’t waste your life in doubts and fears. Spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow. The truest test of a civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops; no, but the kind of man the country turns out.

Google attributes part of this quote to Emerson, but let’s borrow it for the sake of our students:

Don’t waste your life in doubts and fears. Spend yourself on the students before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow. The truest test of a church is not its attendance, nor the size of its sanctuary, nor the budget; no, but the kind of student the youth group turns out.