Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.

We ought not to let either our joy at their faults or our grief at their success be idle, but in either case we ought to reflect, how we may become better than them by avoiding their errors, and by imitating their virtues not come short of them.

We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate.

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the door.

A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.

False leaders rarely engage succession planning for fear of no longer being seen as the leader.

To change your mind and to follow him who sets you straight is to be nonetheless the free agent that you were before.

Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.

Consensus: the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values, and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects; the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner: 'I stand for consensus?

It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given, and not to waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices.

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare—I have no use for him, either.

The oldest, shortest words - “yes” and “no” - are those which require the most thought.

At the end of the day, we can endure more than we think we can.

Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you. . . If you bless a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it.

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.

Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.

He who has so little knowledge of human natures as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.

It is not reason which is the guide of life, but custom.

The past is memory. The future is imagination. All that exists is now.

I was in darkness, but I took three steps and found myself in paradise. The first step was a good thought, the second, a good word; and the third, a good deed.

Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.

Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think.

When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.