Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.
Wine is a treacherous friend who you must always be on guard for.
The great artist is a slave to his ideals.
Every trait of beauty may be referred to some virtue, as to innocence, candor, generosity, modesty, or heroism. St. Pierre To cultivate the sense of the beautiful, is one of the most effectual ways of cultivating an appreciation of the divine goodness.
The beauty seen, is partly in him who sees it.
Formerly when great fortunes were only made in war, war was business; but now when great fortunes are only made by business: Business is war!
All men are alike in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.
The cheerful live longest in years, and afterwards in our regards. Cheerfulness is the off-shoot of goodness.
Many children, many cares; no children, no felicity.
It is our relation to circumstances that determine their influence over us. The same wind that blows one ship into port may blow another off shore.
Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failure. In the assurance of strength there is strength, and, they are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers.
What we call conscience in many instances, is only a wholesome fear of the law.
Courage enlarges, cowardice diminishes resources. In desperate straits the fears of the timid aggravate the dangers that imperil the brave.
The small courtesies sweeten life; the greater ennoble it.
For cowards the road of desertion should be left open; they will carry over to the enemy nothing, but their fears.
No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.
We trifle when we assign limits to our desires, since nature hath set none.
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
Sensitiveness is closely allied to egotism; and excessive sensibility is only another name for morbid self-consciousness. The cure for tender sensibilities is to make more of our objects and less of our selves.
Enthusiasm is the inspiration of everything great. Without it no man is to be feared, and with it none despised.
Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.
Tears are nature's lotion for the eyes. The eyes see better for being washed by them.
A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was not strong enough.
There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.
Good men have the fewest fears. He has but one great fear who fears to do wrong; he has a thousand who has overcome it.
Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination.
False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.
When all else is lost, the future still remains.
Genius makes its observations in short-hand; talent writes them out at length.
Dishonest people conceal their faults from themselves as well as others, honest people know and confess them.
Hope is the best part of our riches.
It is the nature of thought to find its way into action.
A pleasant illusion is better than a harsh reality.
Imitation belittles.
Tranquil pleasures last the longest; we are not fitted to bear the burden of great joys.
Kindness is a language the dumb can speak and the deaf can hear and understand.
It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it.
Six traits of effective leaders: 1. Make others feel important 2. Promote a vision 3. Follow the golden rule 4. Admit mistakes 5. Criticize others only in private 6. Stay close to the action Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.
Youth is too tumultuous for felicity; old age too insecure for happiness. The period most favorable to enjoyment, in a vigorous, fortunate, and generous life, is that between forty and sixty.
Music is the fourth great material want, first food, then clothes, then shelter, then music.
The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess.
Passion doesn't look beyond the moment of its existence.
We make way for the man who boldly pushes past us.
The method of the enterprising is to plan with audacity and execute with vigor.
The grandest of all laws is the law of progressive development. Under it, in the wide sweep of things, men grow wiser as they grow older, and societies better.
Next to being witty yourself, the best thing is being able to quote another's wit.
In ambition, as in love, the successful can afford to be indulgent toward their rivals. The prize our own, it is graceful to recognize the merit that vainly aspired to it.
Our first and last love is... self-love.
The body of a sensualist is the coffin of a dead soul.
Partial culture runs to the ornate, extreme culture to simplicity.
Something of a person's character may be observed by how they smile. Some never smile they only grin.
Bad taste is a species of bad morals.
Tearless grief bleeds inwardly.
The busiest of living agents are certain dead men's thoughts.
Mind unemployed is mind un-enjoyed.
The highest virtue found in the tropics is chastity, and in the colder regions, temperance.
If one is not virtuous he becomes vicious.
A book should be luminous not voluminous.