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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.

-Samuel Smiles

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Imitation Is For The

Samuel Smiles

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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.

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Progress, Of The Best Kind, Is Comparatively Slow

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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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

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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.

Great Men Stamp Their Mind Upon Their Age And Nation.

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

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

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.

The Truest Politeness Comes Of Sincerity.

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

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.

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

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

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Making Mistakes

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Make Good Thy Standing Place, And Move The World.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Enthusiasm..the Sustaining Power Of All Great Action

Enthusiasm For Life

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

The Egotist Is Next Door To A Fanatic.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

Self-control Is Only Courage Under Another Form.

Luck Whines; Labor Whistles.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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."

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.

Any Number Of Depraved Units Cannot Form A Great Nation.

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.

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.

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.

Character Is Itself A Fortune.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Politeness Goes Far, Yet Costs Nothing.

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

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