All quotes

Always remember what is your own, and what belongs to another; and you will not be disturbed.

It is not possible that what is by nature free can be disturbed by anything else, or hindered by any other thing than by itself.

Wherever the mind is perplexed, it is in an entire disorder, and domestic employments are not less troublesome for being less important.

But the true competition is the competition of the individual with himself,--his present seeking to excel his past.

If we seek ever to surpass ourselves, we are moving on a uniform line of progress, that gives a harmonious unifying to our growth in all its parts.

Life is but a succession of opportunities. They are for good or evil,--as we make them.

Man can develop his self-reliance by seeking constantly to surpass himself.

Self-confidence sees the possibilities of the individual; self-reliance realizes them.

To him, defeat is no more than passing through a tunnel is to a traveller,--he knows he must emerge again into the sunlight.

There is no doubt that a blizzard has a bewildering and numbing effect upon the brain of any one exposed to it.

The beginning of wise living lies in the control of the brain by the will; so that the brain may act according to the precepts which the brain itself gives.

No man is so formed that he can be left entirely to himself, to go his own ways; everyone needs to be guided by a preconceived plan, and to follow certain general rules.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that a man cannot forget,--but not himself, his own character.

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

Make the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.

Mere intelligence is still not courage, for we often see the cleverest people devoid of resolution.

There are persons who possess the keenest perception for the most difficult problems, who are also not fearful of responsibility, and yet in cases of difficulty cannot come to a resolution.

Your life will never be a straight path.

If I have set my admiration on the poor body, I have given myself up to be a slave; if on my poor possessions, I also make myself a slave.

To state the problem is to recall the truth that no single principle can answer all of life's complexities.

At times I would rise up, a flash of energetic freedom would dart through my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, that flickered for a moment, and then vanished.

There are times when the future seems thick as a fog; you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right path.

Joy deserted my heart, and for a long, long time I lived in doubt, anxiety and fear.

Man is only what he becomes--profound truth; but he becomes only what he is, truth still more profound.