Whoever has a cheerful disposition has that much of a start toward
positive and complete goodness.
Anyone can look happy when he _is_ happy, but only the unusual man
can keep a merry countenance when hopes die, ties are sundered, dreams
crash in shattered fragments, and the rich promises of life prove to have
been empty mirages of vain expectation. The smile “that cannot come off”
is the smile worth while.
A kindly tongue and a helping hand for all would soon garland the earth
with sunshine and happiness.
A great nation or a great race is dependent upon the performance of great
actions proceeding from great motives.
There is no getting further on the pathway to the higher life until one
has first realized his own situation.
There is too little real conviction of sin in these days. We need the
mirror held before us.
It is easier to overcome others than to conquer oneself.---Yet there is no
truer greatness than that which comes from self-mastery.
Victory over material things is but a passing honor for the one who has
failed to conquer himself.
Is there any reason why men should not do right? If duty were impossible,
all creation would be a mockery and a moral contradiction.
But, though the facing of what may be imminent death requires great
courage, it requires greater courage on the part of a strong man to sit by
the window for twelve years watching the rest of the world go by without
being able to join in its activity.
The ideal victory is not that which is won because the contestant had
everything in his favor. It is rather the one which is gained in spite of
the odds which the contestant had against him.
It is what men do that lives after them. There is an earthly side to
immortality. The deeds done in the flesh make an epitaph which
cannot deceive.
The will of man is not only his danger, but it is also his hope.
The voice with which we cry into the past is echoless, and ineffectual
are the hands with which we beat against its closed portals.
Very swiftly [time] flies by us, but not so swiftly but that we can tinge
it with the very color of our souls as it passes.
He shrank from [high duty and responsibility], as greatness usually does.
True worth is seldom a candidate. In church and state alike, things go
better when the office seeks the man.
...Jesus saved by believing in sinners.---The human heart shrivels under
accusation. It blossoms under the radiant influence of
someone’s confidence.
If they work on week days as they ought to work, they will not be found
complaining of too much rest on Sunday.
The whole world has for a norm the attitude of the individual toward it.
One has but one chance at this life, and he has a right to make that one
effort the best possible.
The waste of [any of a day’s 24 hours] is the same kind of a mistake as is
the waste of money or property.---The person who keeps any one else
waiting for him is guilty of theft.
Finding one’s true place in the world is a serious matter. Find out what
you are good for; get ready to do that thing well; then do it with all
your might.
If the thing you are doing is worth while, don’t give it up. The rewards
of the game are won neither by the fine beginning nor the brilliant play,
but by the steady endurance which holds on to the last. Life is one great
endurance test.
You will never have cause to complain of any day that has witnessed
real progress.
Whatever [life’s consequences] be called, it is not a penalty imposed,
but a result arrived at.
Whoever succeeds must carry a cross of self-denial.
One has little ground for satisfaction over a mere random success.
It is real achievement that brings enduring satisfaction.