There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take for better, for worse, as his portion; that, though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.

Always do what you are afraid to do.
- Topic: Action, Courage, Fear
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
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Actions are right in proportion as they promote happiness, wrong as the produce the reverse.
Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
No man will ever bring out the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it.
Fear gives intelligence even to fools.
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.
Fear is a question: What are you afraid of, and why? Just as the seed of health is in illness, because illness contains information, your fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if you explore them.
He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.
He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss.
I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.
I'm an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.
Great is he, who conquers the frightful. Sublime is he, who, while succumbing to it, fears it not.
