Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

Secrecy is the element of all goodness; even virtue, even beauty is mysterious.

Be not a slave of words.

The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.

The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then.

The three great elements of modern civilization, Gun powder, Printing, and the Protestant religion.

Wonder is the basis of worship.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice; but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is sure as life, it is sure as death.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.

The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.

He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.

Old age is not a matter for sorrow. It is matter for thanks if we have left our work done behind us.

Silence is as deep as eternity, speech a shallow as time.

I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.

If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

It is a vain hope to make people happy by politics.

The eye sees what it brings the power to see.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

Every noble work is at first impossible.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

Work alone is noble.

The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.

Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.

Humor has justly been regarded as the finest perfection of poetic genius.

True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper.

Imagination is a poor matter when it has to part company with understanding.