All quotes

To believe in immortality is one thing, but it is first needful to believe in life.

All life that is not merely mechanical is spun out of two strands: seeking for that bird and hearing him.

the true realism, always and everywhere, is that of the poets: to find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing

he should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves the country best

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.

There is certainly no greater happiness than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed, to trace our own progress in existence, by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow.

The time of such a man is always spent in forming schemes, which a change of wind hinders him from executing, his powers fume away in projects and in hope, and the day of action never arrives.

A man's life is to be measured by what he does in it, and what he feels in it.

Work is the law of our being--the living principle that carries men and nations onward.

Labour is not only a necessity and a duty, but a blessing: only the idler feels it to be a curse.

Every man's first duty is, to improve, to educate, and elevate himself--helping forward his brethren at the same time by all reasonable methods.

The goal of mankind is knowledge. That is the one ideal placed before us by Eastern philosophy.

success--the real success--does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position

A mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world.

Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been stored up effort in the past.

Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here.

There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice.

Desire is possibility seeking expression, or function seeking performance.

Every person naturally wants to become all that he is capable of becoming; this desire to realize innate possibilities is inherent in human nature; we cannot help wanting to be all that we can be.

Extreme altruism is no better and no nobler than extreme selfishness; both are mistakes.

Success in life is becoming what you want to be.

The object of all life is development; and everything that lives has an inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining.

The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.

You are to become a creator, not a competitor.

You can do what you want to do, and it is your right and privilege to follow the business or avocation which will be most congenial and pleasant.