Luck whines; labor whistles.
The great and good do no die even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens.
Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow.
It is energy – the central element of which is will – that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.
Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.
The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning; whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom.
He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.
Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.
The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.
Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.
It is not ease, but effort-not facility, but difficulty, makes men. There is, perhaps, no station in life in which difficulties have not to be encountered and overcome before any decided measure of success can be achieved.
The duty of helping one’s self in the highest sense involves the helping of one’s neighbors.
Good character is property. It is the noblest of all possessions.
To set a lofty example is the richest bequest a man can leave behind.
Great men stamp their mind upon their age and nation.
Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.
The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.
This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.
Luck lies in bed, and wishes the postman would bring him news of a legacy; labor turns out at six, and with busy pen or ringing hammer lays the foundation of a competence.
The influence of woman is the same everywhere. Her condition influences the morals, manners, and character of the people of all countries. Where she is debased, society is debased; where she is morally pure and enlightened, society will be proportionately elevated.