Care not who is richer or more learned than thou, if none be more generous and loving.

Early years
He was born on June 2 1840 in Lebanon Kentucky and ordained a priest at age 23 on December 19 1863 in the Diocese of Louisville. His uncle Martin John Spalding later became Bishop of Louisville then Archbishop of Baltimore but did not live to see John himself become bishop. As bishop Spalding was a proponent of education.

Spalding Hall at The Catholic University of America is also named for him. John Lancaster Spalding (June 2 1840 – August 25 1916) was an American author poet advocate for higher education the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria from 1877 to 1908 and a co-founder of The Catholic University of America.