Like men, nations are purified and strengthened by trials.
Stothard learned the art of combining colors by closely studying butterflies wings; he would often say that no one knew what he owed to these tiny insects. A burnt stick and a barn door served Wilkie in lieu of pencil and canvas.
The truest politeness comes of sincerity.
He who labours not, cannot enjoy the reward of labour.
An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.
The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.
The government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflux of the individuals composing it. The government that is ahead of the people will be inevitably dragged down to their level, as the government that is behind them will in the long run be dragged up.
Energy enables a man to force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details and caries him onward and upward to every station in life.
The career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but his thoughts and acts survive and leave an indelible stamp upon his race.
Marriage like government is a series of compromises. One must give and take, repair and restrain, endure and be patient.
Cecil’s dispatch of business was extraordinary, his maxim being, “The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.”
Time is of no account with great thoughts. They are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago.
Persons with comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if they apply themselves wholly and indefatigably to one thing at a time.
Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side.
Alexander the Great valued learning so highly, that he used to say he was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to his father Philip for life.
The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, and you have all men’s hearts and purses.
Courage is by no means incompatible with tenderness. On the contrary, gentleness and tenderness have been found to characterize the men, no less than the women, who have done the most courageous deeds.
Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.
Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.
Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.