Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the induction of a new order of things.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

There are a thousand excuses for failure but never a good reason.

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.

He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived.

We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.

The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence.

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.

So it is more useful to watch a man in time of peril, and in adversity to discern what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask it torn off, reality remains.

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that setbacks and griefs which endure help us in our march forward.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments.

The day will soon come when I will show the world that the transmission of power and speech without the aid of any wires is possible.

No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities - always see them, for they're always there.