All quotes

Genius is 1 per cent. inspiration and 99 per cent. perspiration.

When I hear some of my young friends complain of want of sympathy and encouragement, I am inclined to think that my naval life was not the least valuable part of my education.

Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him?

I am now sending back to Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh supply of provisions and ammunition, and purpose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.

I would have given anything then to have been back in Illinois, but I had not the moral courage to halt and consider what to do; I kept right on.

My sensations as we approached what I supposed might be 'a field of battle' were anything but agreeable.

The Day of Miracles was past, and a long, gray road of dogged work lay ahead.

Freedom, too, the long-sought, we still seek,--the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire.

This, then, is the end of his striving: to be a co-worker in the kingdom of culture, to escape both death and isolation, to husband and use his best powers and his latent genius.

A regret for the mistakes of yesterday must not, however, blind us to the tasks of today.

There is no instant step from disorder to order.

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.

But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.

If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.

If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.

Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often.

Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.