“Tears are nature's lotion for the eyes. The eyes see better for being washed by them.”
“Tranquil pleasures last the longest; we are not fitted to bear the burden of great joys.”
“A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was not strong enough.”
“The highest virtue found in the tropics is chastity, and in the colder regions, temperance.”
“All men are alike in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.”
“Music is the fourth great material want, first food, then clothes, then shelter, then music.”
“Something of a person's character may be observed by how they smile. Some never smile they only grin.”
“The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess.”
“No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.”
“The cheerful live longest in years, and afterwards in our regards. Cheerfulness is the off-shoot of goodness.”
“Dishonest people conceal their faults from themselves as well as others, honest people know and confess them.”
“Enthusiasm is the inspiration of everything great. Without it no man is to be feared, and with it none despised.”
“For cowards the road of desertion should be left open; they will carry over to the enemy nothing, but their fears.”
“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.”
“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.”
“There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.”
“Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.”
“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.”
“Courage enlarges, cowardice diminishes resources. In desperate straits the fears of the timid aggravate the dangers that imperil the brave.”
“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!”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”