“Circumstances do not shape us so much as they reveal us.”

They who have no central purpose in their life fall easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings.

The dreamers are the saviors of the world.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall he be.

He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.

Self-seeking is self-destruction.

If you would protect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.

What you are, so is your world.

For you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love.

The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

A man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts.

The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure.

If your real desire is to be good, there is no need to wait for the money before you do it; you can do it now, this very moment, and just where you are.

A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

The weakest man is the one who is able to correct his moral defects, but doesn’t take action.

Poetry is an act of peace.

We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.

Love is cheering and sharing and compassion and giving and receiving. Love is an action thing more than a word thing, that brings comfort or joy or relief to anyone or anything.

We are born to action; and whatever is capable of suggesting and guiding action has power over us from the first.

Anything lost, can be found again, except for time wasted. A vision without action is merely a dream. Action, it’s the grind, it’s the hustle, it’s the persistence.

Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing.