No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober.
SAMUEL SMILESSelf-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.
More Samuel Smiles Quotes
-
-
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
The great leader attracts to himself men of kindred character, drawing them towards him as the loadstone draws iron.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
Work is one of the best educators of practical character.
SAMUEL SMILES -
Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But all play and no work makes him something worse.
SAMUEL SMILES -
Purposes, like eggs, unless they be hatched into action, will run into rottenness.
SAMUEL SMILES -
Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
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.
SAMUEL SMILES -
The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to follow him.
SAMUEL SMILES -
Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow.
SAMUEL SMILES