Quotessence
Home / Authors / Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles

Samuel Smiles Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenCharacterMaySelfActionIndividualInspirationalExampleIfsWay

Famous Samuel Smiles Quotes

“Experience serves to prove that the worth and strength of a state depend far less upon the form of its institutions than upon the character of its men; for the nation is only the aggregate of individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a question of personal, improvement.”

MenStatesCharacterFormIndividualNationsConditionsDependsCivilizationProveInstitutionsImprovementPersonal Improvement
Book:Self-help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and Perseverance
Create image

“Necessity is always the first stimulus to industry, and those who conduct it with prudence, perseverance and energy will rarely fail. Viewed in this light, the necessity of labor is not a chastisement, but a blessing,--the very root and spring of all that we call progress in individuals and civilization in nations.”

FirstsLightIndividualEnergyNationsProgressFailingIndustryCivilizationBlessingSpringLaborRootsPerseverancePrudenceStimulusChastisement
Book:Self-help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct
Create image

“Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best are almost equivalent to gospels,--teaching high living ,high thinking, and energetic action, for their own and, the world's good.”

ThinkingMenWorldHelpingActionTeachingGuidesGood ManBiographiesIncentivesEnergetic
Book:Self-help: With Illustrations of Charakter, Conduct and Perseverance
Create image

“True politeness is consideration for the opinions of others. It has been said of dogmatism that it is only puppyism come to its full growth; and certainly the worst form this quality can assume is that of opinionativeness and arrogance.”

Has BeensSaidFormGrowthQualityOpinionWorstAssumingArroganceConsiderationPolitenessDogmatism
Book:Self-help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and Perseverance
Create image

“He who recognizes no higher logic than that of the shilling may become a very rich man, and yet remain all the while an exceedingly poor creature; for riches are no proof whatever of moral worth, and their glitter often serves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their possessor, as the glow-worm's light reveals the grub.”

MenMayLightPoorAttentionMoralRichHigherCreaturesDrawsLogicRichesProofWormsGlitterRich ManWorthlessnessGlow Worms
Book:Self-help: With Illustrations of Characters, Conduct, and Perseverance
Create image

“The path of success in business is invariably the path of common-sense. Nothwithstanding all that is said about "lucky hits," the best kind of success in every man's life is not that which comes by accident. The only "good time coming" we are justified in hoping for is that which we are capable of making for ourselves.”

MenKindSaidSuccessLife IsCommonPathLuckyCapableAccidentsEvery ManCommon SenseGood TimesBusiness SuccessJustified
Book:Self-help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct
Create image

“Though an inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The wealthy man may pay others for doing his work for him; but it is impossible to get his thinking done for him by another, or to purchase any kind of self-culture.”

ThinkingMenKindMaySelfDoneCulturePayImpossibleWealthyInheritanceAcresKnowledge And Wisdom
Book:Self-help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and Perseverance
Create image

“It's not enough to have a dream, Unless you're willing to pursue it. It's not enough to know what's right, Unless you're strong enough to do it. It's not enough to learn the truth, Unless you also learn to live it. It's not enough to reach for love, Unless you care enough to give it Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.”

IfsKnowsMenWayGivingEnoughDreamCareOpportunityStrongCourageWillingPursueStrong Enough
Author:Samuel Smiles
Create image

“Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side. Dr. Johnson has said that the habit of looking at the best side of a thing is worth more to a man than a thousand pounds a year. And we possess the power, to a great extent, of so exercising the will as to direct the thoughts upon objects calculated to yield happiness and improvement rather than their opposites.”

MenYearsMaySaidSidesDarkObjectsHabitExerciseThousandDirectOppositesImprovementPoundsYieldDrsJohnsonDark SideHabitualBright SideDr Johnson
Book:Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and Perseverance by Samuel Smiles
Create image