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Home Is The First And Most Important School Of Character. It Is There That Every Human Being Receives His Best Moral Training, Or His Worst; For It Is There That He Imbibes Those Principles Of Conduct Which Endure Through Manhood, And Cease Only With Life.

-Samuel Smiles

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Home Is The First

Samuel Smiles

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Home Is The First And Most Important School Of Character. It Is There That Every Human Being Receives His Best Moral Training, Or His Worst; For It Is There That He Imbibes Those Principles Of Conduct Which Endure Through Manhood, And Cease Only With Life.

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Good Character Is Property. It Is The Noblest Of All Possessions.

The Knowledge And Experience Which Produce Wisdom Can Only Become A Man's Individual Possession And Property By His Own Free Action; And It Is As Futile To Expect These Without Laborious, Painstaking Effort, As It Is To Hope To Gather A Harvest Where The Seed Has Not Been Sown.

Manners Are The Ornament Of Action.

Opportunities ... Fall In The Way Of Every Man Who Is Resolved To Take Advantage Of Them.

The Cheapest Of All Things Is Kindness, Its Exercise Requiring The Least Possible Trouble And Self-sacrifice. Win Hearts, Said Burleigh To Queen Elizabeth, And You Have All Men's Hearts And Purses.

Necessity Is Always The First Stimulus To Industry, And Those Who Conduct It With Prudence, Perseverance And Energy Will Rarely Fail. Viewed In This Light, The Necessity Of Labor Is Not A Chastisement, But A Blessing,--the Very Root And Spring Of All That We Call Progress In Individuals And Civilization In Nations.

Even Happiness Itself May Become Habitual. There Is A Habit Of Looking At The Bright Side Of Things, And Also Of Looking At The Dark Side. Dr. Johnson Has Said That The Habit Of Looking At The Best Side Of A Thing Is Worth More To A Man Than A Thousand Pounds A Year. And We Possess The Power, To A Great Extent, Of So Exercising The Will As To Direct The Thoughts Upon Objects Calculated To Yield Happiness And Improvement Rather Than Their Opposites.

If We Opened Our Minds To Enjoyment, We Might Find Tranquil Pleasures Spread About Us On Every Side. We Might Live With The Angels That Visit Us On Every Sunbeam, And Sit With The Fairies Who Wait On Every Flower.

Great Men Stamp Their Mind Upon Their Age And Nation.

The Government Of A Nation Itself Is Usually Found To Be But The Reflux Of The Individuals Composing It. The Government That Is Ahead Of The People Will Be Inevitably Dragged Down To Their Level, As The Government That Is Behind Them Will In The Long Run Be Dragged Up.

Purposes, Like Eggs, Unless They Be Hatched Into Action, Will Run Into Rottenness.

Genius, Without Work, Is Certainly A Dumb Oracle, And It Is Unquestionably True That The Men Of The Highest Genius Have Invariably Been Found To Be Amongst The Most Plodding, Hard-working, And Intent Men -- Their Chief Characteristic Apparently Consisting Simply In Their Power Of Laboring More Intensely And Effectively Than Others.

The Spirit Of Self-help Is The Root Of All Genuine Growth In The Individual; And, Exhibited In The Lives Of Many, It Constitutes The True Source Of National Vigour And Strength. Help From Without Is Often Enfeebling In Its Effects, But Help From Within Invariably Invigorates

We Learn Wisdom From Failure Much More Than From Success. We Often Discover What Will Do, By Finding Out What Will Not Do; And Probably He Who Never Made A Mistake Never Made A Discovery.

The Life Of A Good Man Is At The Same Time The Most Eloquent Lesson Of Virtue And The Most Severe Reproof Of Vice.

The Great Leader Attracts To Himself Men Of Kindred Character, Drawing Them Towards Him As The Loadstone Draws Iron.

Energy Of Will May Be Defined To Be The Very Central Power Of Character In A Man.

Progress, Of The Best Kind, Is Comparatively Slow

The Women Of The Poorer Classes Make Sacrifices, And Run Risks, And Bear Privations, And Exercise Patience And Kindness To A Degree That The World Never Knows Of, And Would Scarcely Believe Even If It Did Know.

The Best School Of Discipline Is Home. Family Life Is God's Own Method Of Training The Young, And Homes Are Very Much As Women Make Them.

Progress However, Of The Best Kind, Is Comparatively Slow. Great Results Cannot Be Achieved At Once; And We Must Be Satisfied To Advance In Life As We Walk, Step By Step.

What We Are Accustomed To Decry As Great Social Evils, Will, For The Most Part, Be Found To Be Only The Out-growth Of Our Own Perverted Life; And Though We May Endeavor To Cut Them Down And Extirpate Them By Means Of Law, They Will Only Spring Up Again With Fresh Luxuriance In Some Other Form, Unless The Conditions Of Human Life And Character Are Radically Improved.

The Egotist Is Next Door To A Fanatic.

Example Teaches Better Than Precept. It Is The Best Modeler Of The Character Of Men And Women. To Set A Lofty Example Is The Richest Bequest A Man Can Leave Behind Him.

No Laws, However Stringent, Can Make The Idle Industrious, The Thriftless Provident, Or The Drunken Sober.

He Who Labours Not, Cannot Enjoy The Reward Of Labour.

The Spirit Of Self-help Is The Root Of All Genuine Growth In The Individual.

I See Nothing Quite Conclusive In The Art Of Temporal Government, But Violence, Duplicity And Frequent Malversation. King Rules Or Barons Rule: The Strong Man Strongly And The Weak Man By Caprice. They Have But One Law, To Seize The Power And Keep It.

The Influence Of Woman Is The Same Everywhere. Her Condition Influences The Morals, Manners, And Character Of The People Of All Countries. Where She Is Debased, Society Is Debased; Where She Is Morally Pure And Enlightened, Society Will Be Proportionately Elevated.

An Intense Anticipation Itself Transforms Possibility Into Reality; Our Desires Being Often But Precursors Of The Things Which We Are Capable Of Performing.

The Great And Good Do No Die Even In This World. Embalmed In Books, Their Spirits Walk Abroad. The Book Is A Living Voice. It Is An Intellect To Which One Still Listens.

Honorable Industry Always Travels The Same Road With Enjoyment And Duty, And Progress Is Altogether Impossible Without It.

Man Cannot Aspire If He Looked Down; If He Rise, He Must Look Up.

Character Is Undergoing Constant Change, For Better Or For Worse--either Being Elevated On The One Hand, Or Degraded On The Other.

Change For The Better

For Want Of Self-restraint Many Men Are Engaged All Their Lives In Fighting With Difficulties Of Their Own Making, And Rendering Success Impossible By Their Own Cross-grained Ungentleness; Whilst Others, It May Be Much Less Gifted, Make Their Way And Achieve Success By Simple Patience, Equanimity, And Self-control.

Practical Wisdom Is Only To Be Learned In The School Of Experience. Precepts And Instruction Are Useful So Far As They Go, But, Without The Discipline Of Real Life, They Remain Of The Nature Of Theory Only.

When Typhus Or Cholera Breaks Out, They Tell Us That Nobody Is To Blame. That Terrible Nobody! How Much He Has To Answer For. More Mischief Is Done By Nobody Than By All The World Besides.

The Apprenticeship Of Difficulty Is One Which The Greatest Of Men Have Had To Serve.

Even Happiness Itself May Become Habitual. There Is A Habit Of Looking At The Bright Side Of Things, And Also Of Looking At The Dark Side.

Childhood Is Like A Mirror, Which Reflects In Afterlife The Images First Presented To It. The First Thing Continues Forever With The Child. The First Joy, The First Sorrow, The First Success, The First Failure, The First Achievement, The First Misadventure, Paint The Foreground Of His Life.

Where There Is A Will There Is A Way.

Wisdom And Understanding Can Only Become The Possession Of Individual Men By Travelling The Old Road Of Observation, Attention, Perseverance, And Industry.

A Woman's Best Qualities Do Not Reside In Her Intellect, But In Her Affections. She Gives Refreshment By Her Sympathies, Rather Than By Her Knowledge.

The Romans Rightly Employed The Same Word (virtus) To Designate Courage, Which Is, In A Physical Sense, What The Other Is In A Moral; The Highest Virtue Of All Being Victory Over Ourselves.

Any Number Of Depraved Units Cannot Form A Great Nation.

Imitation Is For The Most Part So Unconscious That Its Effects Are Almost Unheeded, But Its Influence Is Not The Less Permanent On That Account. It Is Only When An Impressive Nature Is Placed In Contact With An Impressionable One That The Alteration In The Character Becomes Recognizable. Yet Even The Weakest Natures Exercise Some Influence Upon Those About Them. The Approximation Of Feeling, Thought, And Habit Is Constant, And The Action Of Example Unceasing.

The Path Of Success In Business Is Invariably The Path Of Common-sense. Nothwithstanding All That Is Said About "lucky Hits," The Best Kind Of Success In Every Man's Life Is Not That Which Comes By Accident. The Only "good Time Coming" We Are Justified In Hoping For Is That Which We Are Capable Of Making For Ourselves.

Mere Political Reform Will Not Cure The Manifold Evils Which Now Afflict Society. There Requires A Social Reform, A Domestic Reform, An Individual Reform.

The Career Of A Great Man Remains An Enduring Monument Of Human Energy. The Man Dies And Disappears, But His Thoughts And Acts Survive And Leave An Indelible Stamp Upon His Race.

The Noble People Will Be Nobly Ruled, And The Ignorant And Corrupt Ignobly.

Home Is The First And Most Important School Of Character. It Is There That Every Human Being Receives His Best Moral Training, Or His Worst; For It Is There That He Imbibes Those Principles Of Conduct Which Endure Through Manhood, And Cease Only With Life.

There Are Many Counterfeits Of Character, But The Genuine Article Is Difficult To Be Mistaken.

He Who Recognizes No Higher Logic Than That Of The Shilling May Become A Very Rich Man, And Yet Remain All The While An Exceedingly Poor Creature; For Riches Are No Proof Whatever Of Moral Worth, And Their Glitter Often Serves Only To Draw Attention To The Worthlessness Of Their Possessor, As The Glow-worm's Light Reveals The Grub.

Life Will Always Be To A Large Extent What We Ourselves Make It.

Cheerfulness Is Also An Excellent Wearing Quality. It Has Been Called The Bright Weather Of The Heart.

A Great Deal Of What Passes By The Name Of Patriotism In These Days Consists Of The Merest Bigotry And Narrow-mindedness; Exhibiting Itself In National Prejudice, National Conceit, And National Hatred. It Does Not Show Itself In Deeds, But In Boastings--in Howlings, Gesticulations, And Shrieking Helplessly For Help--in Flying Flags And Singing Songs--and In Perpetual Grinding At The Hurdy-gurdy Of Long-dead Grievances And Long-remedied Wrongs. To Be Infested By Such A Patriotism As This Is Perhaps Among The Greatest Curses That Can Befall Any Country.

To Set A Lofty Example Is The Richest Bequest A Man Can Leave Behind.

Conscience Is That Peculiar Faculty Of The Soul Which May Be Called The Religious Instinct.

No Laws, However Stringent, Can Make The Idle Industrious, The Thriftless Provident, Or The Drunken Sober. Such Reforms Can Only Be Effected By Means Of Individual Action, Economy And Self-denial; By Better Habits, Rather Than By Greater Rights.

The Truest Politeness Comes Of Sincerity.

The Tiniest Bits Of Opinion Sown In The Minds Of Children In Private Life Afterwards Issue Forth To The World, And Become Its Public Opinion; For Nations Are Gathered Out Of Nurseries.

There Is No Act, However Trivial, But Has Its Train Of Consequences.

Labour May Be A Burden And A Chastisement, But It Is Also An Honour And A Glory. Without It, Nothing Can Be Accomplished.

Courage Is By No Means Incompatible With Tenderness. On The Contrary, Gentleness And Tenderness Have Been Found To Characterize The Men, No Less Than The Women, Who Have Done The Most Courageous Deeds.

Sympathy Is The Golden Key That Unlocks The Hearts Of Others.

Marriage Like Government Is A Series Of Compromises. One Must Give And Take, Repair And Restrain, Endure And Be Patient.

Childhood Is Like A Mirror, Which Reflects In After Life The Images First Presented To It.

Riches Are Oftener An Impediment Than A Stimulus To Action; And In Many Cases They Are Quite As Much A Misfortune As A Blessing.

Luck Whines; Labor Whistles.

Luck Lies In Bed, And Wishes The Postman Would Bring Him News Of A Legacy; Labor Turns Out At Six, And With Busy Pen Or Ringing Hammer Lays The Foundation Of A Competence.

All Life Is A Struggle.... Under Competition The Lazy Man Is Put Under The Necessity Of Exerting Himself; And If He Will Not Exert Himself, He Must Fall Behind. If He Do Not Work, Neither Shall He Eat.

Commonplace Though It May Appear, This Doing Of One's Duty Embodies The Highest Ideal Of Life And Character. There May Be Nothing Heroic About It; But The Common Lot Of Men Is Not Heroic.

It Is Not Eminent Talent That Is Required To Ensure Success In Any Pursuit, So Much As Purpose-not Merely The Power To Achieve, But The Will To Labour Energetically And Perseveringly. Hence Energy Of Will May Be Defined To Be The Very Central Power Of Character In A Man-in A Word, It Is The Man Himself.

Woman Is The Heart Of Humanity ... Its Grace, Ornament, And Solace.

Hope... Is The Companion Of Power, And The Mother Of Success; For Who So Hopes Has Within Him The Gift Of Miracles.

True Politeness Is Consideration For The Opinions Of Others. It Has Been Said Of Dogmatism That It Is Only Puppyism Come To Its Full Growth; And Certainly The Worst Form This Quality Can Assume Is That Of Opinionativeness And Arrogance.

Self-control Is Only Courage Under Another Form. It May Also Be Regarded As The Primary Essence Of Character.

Biographies Of Great, But Especially Of Good Men Are Most Instructive And Useful As Helps, Guides, And Incentives To Others. Some Of The Best Are Almost Equivalent To Gospels,--teaching High Living ,high Thinking, And Energetic Action, For Their Own And, The World's Good.

Alexander The Great Valued Learning So Highly, That He Used To Say He Was More Indebted To Aristotle For Giving Him Knowledge Than To His Father Philip For Life.

Experience Serves To Prove That The Worth And Strength Of A State Depend Far Less Upon The Form Of Its Institutions Than Upon The Character Of Its Men; For The Nation Is Only The Aggregate Of Individual Conditions, And Civilization Itself Is But A Question Of Personal, Improvement.

"where There Is A Will There Is A Way" Is An Old True Saying. He Who Resolves Upon Doing A Thing, By That Very Resolution Often Scales The Barriers To It And Secures Its Achievement. To Think We Are Able Is Almost To Be So - To Determine Upon Attainment Is Frequently Attainment Itself.

The Battle Of Life Is, In Most Cases, Fought Uphill; And To Win It Without A Struggle Were Perhaps To Win It Without Honor. If There Were No Difficulties There Would Be No Success; If There Were Nothing To Struggle For, There Would Be Nothing To Be Achieved.

The Possession Of A Library, Or The Free Use Of It, No More Constitutes Learning, Than The Possession Of Wealth Constitutes Generosity.

Labor Is Still, And Ever Will Be, The Inevitable Price Set Upon Everything Which Is Valuable.

It Is Energy - The Central Element Of Which Is Will - That Produces The Miracle That Is Enthusiasm In All Ages. Everywhere It Is What Is Called Force Of Character And The Sustaining Power Of All Great Action

The Duty Of Helping One's Self In The Highest Sense Involves The Helping Of One's Neighbors.

The Great High-road Of Human Welfare Lies Along The Old Highway Of Steadfast Welldoing; And They Who Are The Most Persistent, And Work In The Truest Spirit, Will Invariably Be The Most Successful.

Self-respect Is The Noblest Garment With Which A Man Can Clothe Himself, The Most Elevating Feeling With Which The Mind Can Be Inspired.

One Might Almost Fear," Writes A Thoughtful Woman, "seeing How The Women Of To-day Are Lightly Stirred Up To Run After Some New Fashion Or Faith, That Heaven Is Not So Near To Them As It Was To Their Mothers And Grandmothers.

Knowledge Conquered By Labor Becomes A Possession -a Property Entirely Our Own.

Hope Is Like The Sun, Which, As We Journey Toward It, Casts The Shadow Of Our Burden Behind Us.

It Is A Mistake To Suppose That Men Succeed Through Success; They Much Oftener Succeed Through Failures. Precept, Study, Advice, And Example Could Never Have Taught Them So Well As Failure Has Done.

Make Good Thy Standing Place, And Move The World.

Woman, Above All Other Educators, Educates Humanly. Man Is The Brain, But Woman Is The Heart, Of Humanity.

Work Is One Of The Best Educators Of Practical Character.

This Extraordinary Metal, The Soul Of Every Manufacture, And The Mainspring Perhaps Of Civilised Society. Of Iron.

It Is A Grand Old Name, That Of Gentleman, And Has Been Recognized As A Rank And Power In All Stages Of Society. To Possess This Character Is A Dignity Of Itself, Commanding The Instinctive Homage Of Every Generous Mind, And Those Who Will Not Bow To Titular Rank Will Yet Do Homage To The Gentleman. His Qualities Depend Not Upon Fashion Or Manners, But Upon Moral Worth; Not On Personal Possessions, But On Personal Qualities.

Personal Qualities

Though An Inheritance Of Acres May Be Bequeathed, An Inheritance Of Knowledge And Wisdom Cannot. The Wealthy Man May Pay Others For Doing His Work For Him; But It Is Impossible To Get His Thinking Done For Him By Another, Or To Purchase Any Kind Of Self-culture.

Nothing Is More Common Than Energy In Money-making, Quite Independent Of Any Higher Object Than Its Accumulation. A Man Who Devotes Himself To This Pursuit, Body And Soul, Can Scarcely Fail To Become Rich. Very Little Brains Will Do; Spend Less Than You Earn; Add Guinea To Guinea; Scrape And Save; And The Pile Of Gold Will Gradually Rise.

Lost Wealth May Be Replaced By Industry, Lost Knowledge By Study, Lost Health By Temperance Or Medicine, But Lost Time Is Gone Forever.

The Reason Why So Little Is Done, Is Generally Because So Little Is Attempted.

Great Men Are Always Exceptional Men; And Greatness Itself Is But Comparative. Indeed, The Range Of Most Men In Life Is So Limited That Very Few Have The Opportunity Of Being Great.

It's Not Enough To Have A Dream, Unless You're Willing To Pursue It. It's Not Enough To Know What's Right, Unless You're Strong Enough To Do It. It's Not Enough To Learn The Truth, Unless You Also Learn To Live It. It's Not Enough To Reach For Love, Unless You Care Enough To Give It Men Who Are Resolved To Find A Way For Themselves Will Always Find Opportunities Enough; And If They Do Not Find Them, They Will Make Them.

Men Who Are Resolved To Find A Way For Themselves Will Always Find Opportunities Enough; And If They Do Not Find Them, They Will Make Them.

The Experience Gathered From Books, Though Often Valuable, Is But The Nature Of Learning; Whereas The Experience Gained From Actual Life Is One Of The Nature Of Wisdom.

Like Men, Nations Are Purified And Strengthened By Trials.

It Is Observed At Sea That Men Are Never So Much Disposed To Grumble And Mutiny As When Least Employed. Hence An Old Captain, When There Was Nothing Else To Do, Would Issue The Order To "scour The Anchor.

Necessity, Oftener Than Facility, Has Been The Mother Of Invention; And The Most Prolific School Of All Has Been The School Of Difficulty.

Many Are The Lives Of Men Unwritten, Which Have Nevertheless As Powerfully Influenced Civilization And Progress As The More Fortunate Great Whose Names Are Recorded In Biography. Even The Humblest Person, Who Sets Before His Fellows An Example Of Industry, Sobriety, And Upright Honesty Of Purpose In Life, Has A Present As Well As A Future Influence Upon The Well-being Of His Country; For His Life And Character Pass Unconsciously Into The Lives Of Others, And Propagate Good Example For All Time To Come.

Although Genius Always Commands Admiration, Character Most Secures Respect. The Former Is More The Product Of The Brain, The Latter Of Heart-power; And In The Long Run It Is The Heart That Rules In Life.

Men Must Necessarily Be The Active Agents Of Their Own Well-being And Well-doing They Themselves Must In The Very Nature Of Things Be Their Own Best Helpers.

Persons With Comparatively Moderate Powers Will Accomplish Much, If They Apply Themselves Wholly And Indefatigably To One Thing At A Time.

The Great Lesson Of Biography Is To Show What Man Can Be And Do At His Best. A Noble Life Put Fairly On Record Acts Like An Inspiration To Others.

So Much Does The Moral Health Depend Upon The Moral Atmosphere That Is Breathed, And So Great Is The Influence Daily Exercised By Parents Over Their Children By Living A Life Before Their Eyes, That Perhaps The Best System Of Parental Instruction Might Be Summed Up In These Two Words: 'improve Thyself.'

The Most Influential Of All The Virtues Are Those Which Are The Most In Request For Daily Use. They Wear The Best, And Last The Longest.

Riches Do Not Constitute Any Claim To Distinction. It Is Only The Vulgar Who Admire Riches As Riches.

Whatever Is Done For Men Takes Away From The Stimulus And Necessity Of Doing Things For Themselves. The Value Of Legislative As An Agent In Human Advancement Has Been Much Over-estimated. No Laws, However Stringent, Can Make The Idle Industrious, The Thriftless Provident Or The Drunken Sober.

Liberty Is The Result Of Free Individual Action,energy And Independence.

Commit A Child To The Care Of A Worthless, Ignorant Woman, And No Culture In After-life Will Remedy The Evil You Have Done.

If Character Be Irrecoverably Lost, Then Indeed There Will Be Nothing Left Worth Saving.

With Will One Can Do Anything.

Energy Enables A Man To Force His Way Through Irksome Drudgery And Dry Details And Caries Him Onward And Upward To Every Station In Life.

Onward And Upward

The Wise Man... If He Would Live At Peace With Others, He Will Bear And Forbear.

Fortune Has Often Been Blamed For Her Blindness; But Fortune Is Not So Blind As Men Are. Those Who Look Into Practical Life Will Find That Fortune Is Usually On The Side Of The Industrious, As The Winds And Waves Are On The Side Of The Best Navigators.

The Greatest Slave Is Not He Who Is Ruled By A Despot, Great Though That Evil Be, But He Who Is In The Thrall Of His Own Moral Ignorance, Selfishness, And Vice.

It Is The Close Observation Of Little Things Which Is The Secret Of Success In Business, In Art, In Science, And In Every Pursuit Of Life.

Stothard Learned The Art Of Combining Colors By Closely Studying Butterflies Wings; He Would Often Say That No One Knew What He Owed To These Tiny Insects. A Burnt Stick And A Barn Door Served Wilkie In Lieu Of Pencil And Canvas.

Men Cannot Be Raised In Masses As The Mountains Were In He Early Geological States Of The World. They Must Be Dealt With As Units; For It Is Only By The Elevation Of Individuals That The Elevation Of The Masses Can Be Effectively Secured.

The Very Greatest Things - Great Thoughts, Discoveries, Inventions - Have Usually Been Nurtured In Hardship, Often Pondered Over In Sorrow, And At Length Established With Difficulty.

Obedience, Submission, Discipline, Courage--these Are Among The Characteristics Which Make A Man.

Help From Without Is Often Enfeebling In Its Effects, But Help From Within Invariably Invigorates.

The Crown And Glory Of Life Is Character. It Is The Noblest Possession Of A Man, Constituting A Rank In Itself, And An Estate In The General Good-will; Dignifying Every Station, And Exalting Every Position In Society. It Exercises A Greater Power Than Wealth, And Secures All The Honor Without The Jealousies Of Fame. It Carries With It An Influence Which Always Tell; For It Is The Result Of Proved Honor, Rectitude, And Consistency-qualities Which, Perhaps More Than Any Other, Command The General Confidence And Respect Of Mankind.

Politeness Goes Far, Yet Costs Nothing.

He Who Never Made A Mistake, Never Made A Discovery.

National Progress Is The Sum Of Individual Industry, Energy, And Uprightness, As National Decay Is Of Individual Idleness, Selfishness, And Vice.

It Is Natural To Admire And Revere Really Great Men. They Hallow The Nation To Which They Belong, And Lift Up Not Only All Who Live In Their Time, But Those Who Live After Them. Their Great Example Becomes The Common Heritage Of Their Race; And Their Great Deeds And Great Thoughts Are The Most Glorious Legacies Of Mankind.

Nothing Of Real Worth Can Be Obtained Without Courageous Working. Man Owes His Growth Chiefly To The Active Striving Of The Will, That Encounter With Difficulty Which He Calls Effort; And It Is Astonishing To Find How Often Results Apparently Impracticable Are Then Made Possible.

Life Is Of Little Value Unless It Be Consecrated By Duty.

All That Is Great In Man Comes Through Work; And Civilization Is Its Product.

Thus The Brave And Aspiring Life Of One Man Lights A Flame In The Minds Of Others Of Like Faculties And Impulse; And Where There Is Equally Vigorous Effort, Like Distinction And Success Will Almost Surely Follow. Thus The Chain Of Example Is Carried Down Through Time In An Endless Succession Of Links--admiration Exciting Imitation, And Perpetuating The True Aristocracy Of Genius.

Diligence, Above All, Is The Mother Of Good Luck.

There Are Many Persons Of Whom It May Be Said That They Have No Other Possession In The World But Their Character, And Yet They Stand As Firmly Upon It As Any Crowned King.

The Great High-road Of Human Welfare Lies Along The Old Highway Of Steadfast, Well-doing; And They Who Are The Most Persistent, And Work In The Truest Spirit, Will Invariably Be The Most Successful; Success Treads On The Heels Of Every Right Effort.

Time Is Of No Account With Great Thoughts, Which Are As Fresh To -day As When They First Passed Through Their Authors' Minds Ages Ago.

The Healthy Spirit Of Self-help Created Among Working People Would, More Than Any Other Measure, Serve To Raise Them As A Class; And This, Not By Pulling Down Others, But By Levelling Them Up To A Higher And Still Advancing Standard Of Religion, Intelligence, And Virtue.

It Is Possible That The Scrupulously Honest Man May Not Grow Rich So Fast As The Unscrupulous And Dishonest One; But The Success Will Be Of A Truer Kind, Earned Without Fraud Or Injustice. And Even Though A Man Should For A Time Be Unsuccessful, Still He Must Be Honest: Better Lose All And Save Character. For Character Is Itself A Fortune. . . .

It Will Generally Be Found That Men Who Are Constantly Lamenting Their Ill Luck Are Only Reaping The Consequences Of Their Own Neglect, Mismanagement, And Improvidence, Or Want Of Application.

Good Sense, Disciplined By Experience And Inspired By Goodness, Issues In Practical Wisdom.

Those Who Aren't Making Mistakes Probably Aren't Making Anything.

Making Mistakes

The Principal Industrial Excellence Of The English People Lay In Their Capacity Of Present Exertion For A Distant Object.

The Iron Rail Proved A Magicians' Road. It Virtually Reduced England To A Sixth Of Its Size. It Brought The Country Nearer To The Town And The Town To The Country.... It Energized Punctuality, Discipline, And Attention; And Proved A Moral Teacher By The Influence Of Example.

The Highest Culture Is Not Obtained From The Teacher When At School Or College, So Much As By Our Ever Diligent Self-education When We Become Men.

Self-control Is Only Courage Under Another Form.

Men Often Discover Their Affinity To Each Other By The Mutual Love They Have For A Book.

All Experiences Of Life Seems To Prove That The Impediments Thrown In The Way Of The Human Advancement May For The Most Part Be Overcome By Steady Good Conduct, Honest Zeal, Activity, Perseverance And Above All, By A Determined Resolution To Surmount.

Men Whose Acts Are At Variance With Their Words Command No Respect, And What They Say Has But Little Weight.

Hope Is Like The Sun, Which, As We Journey Towards It, Casts The Shadow Of Our Burden Behind Us. ...hope Sweetens The Memory Of Experiences Well Loved. It Tempers Our Troubles To Our Growth And Our Strength. It Befriends Us In The Dark Hours, Excites Us In Bright Ones. It Lends Promise To The Future And Purpose To The Past. It Turns Discouragement To Determination. Samuel Smiles

The Brave Man Is An Inspiration To The Weak, And Compels Them, As It Were, To Follow Him.

A Fig-tree Looking On A Fig-tree Becometh Fruitful," Says The Arabian Proverb. And So It Is With Children; Their First Great Instructor Is Example.

No Good Thing Is Ever Lost. Nothing Dies, Not Even Life Which Gives Up One Form Only To Resume Another. No Good Action, No Good Example Dies. It Lives Forever In Our Race. While The Frame Moulders And Disappears, The Deed Leaves An Indelible Stamp, And Molds The Very Thought And Will Of Future Generations.

Character Is Itself A Fortune.

Cecil's Dispatch Of Business Was Extraordinary, His Maxim Being, "the Shortest Way To Do Many Things Is To Do Only One Thing At Once."

It Is Not Ease, But Effort-not Facility, But Difficulty, Makes Men. There Is, Perhaps, No Station In Life In Which Difficulties Have Not To Be Encountered And Overcome Before Any Decided Measure Of Success Can Be Achieved.

It Is The Close Observation Of Little Things Which Is The Secret Of Success In Business, In Art, In Science, And In Every Pursuit In Life. Human Knowledge Is But An Accumulation Of Small Facts Made By Successive Generations Of Men--the Little Bits Of Knowledge And Experience Carefully Treasured Up By Them Growing At Length Into A Mighty Pyramid.

Those Who Have Most To Do, And Are Willing To Work, Will Find The Most Time.

The Work Of Many Of The Greatest Men, Inspired By Duty, Has Been Done Amidst Suffering And Trial And Difficulty. They Have Struggled Against The Tide, And Reached The Shore Exhausted.

All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy. But All Play And No Work Makes Him Something Worse.

Enthusiasm..the Sustaining Power Of All Great Action

Enthusiasm For Life

Success Treads On The Heels Of Every Right Effort; And Though It Is Possible To Overestimate Success To The Extent Of Almost Deifying It, As Is Sometimes Done, Still In Any Worthy Pursuit It Is Meritorious.

England Was Nothing, Compared To Continental Nations Until She Had Become Commercial... Until About The Middle Of The Last Century, When A Number Of Ingenious And Inventive Men, Without Apparent Relation To Each Other, Arose In Various Parts Of The Kingdom, Succeeded In Giving An Immense Impulse To All The Branches Of The National Industry; The Result Of Which Has Been A Harvest Of Wealth And Prosperity, Perhaps Without A Parallel In The History Of The World.

For Want Of Self-restraint Many Men Are Engaged All Their Lives In Fighting With Difficulties Of Their Own Making.

The Shortest Way To Do Many Things Is To Do Only One Thing At Once.

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