“It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.”

It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible. Do not then be afraid of defeat. You are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause.

Whatever is almost true is quite false, and among the most dangerous of errors, because being so near truth, it is more likely to lead astray.

When a man says that he is perfect already, there is only one of two places for him, and that is heaven or the lunatic asylum.

Love is the river of life in this world.

It is for men to choose whether they will govern themselves or be governed.

Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.

Pushing any truth out very far, you are met by a counter-truth.

Adversity, if for no other reason, is of benefit, since it is sure to bring a season of sober reflection. People see clearer at such times. Storms purify the atmosphere.

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

Some men are like pyramids, which are very broad where they touch the ground, but grow narrow as they reach the sky.

Life would be a perpetual flea hunt if a man were obliged to run down all the innuendoes, inveracities, and insinuations and misrepresentations which are uttered against him.

Blessed are they who know how to shine on one’s gloom with their cheer.

Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.

Sorrows, as storms, bring down the clouds close to the earth; sorrows bring heaven down close; and they are instruments of cleansing and purifying.

If you are idle, you are on the road to ruin; and there are few stopping-places upon it. It is rather a precipice than a road

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.