Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

Surely what a man does when he is in an uncomfortable situation is the best evidence for the sort of man he is.

The charges we bring against others often come home to ourselves; we inveigh against our faults which are as much ours as theirs; and so our eloquence ends by tellings against ourselves.

One can acquire everything in solitude—except character.

Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.

I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm.

Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Perfect wisdom has four parts; Wisdom, the principle of doing things right. Justice, the principle of doing things equally in public and private. Fortitude, the principle of not fleeing danger, but meeting it. Temperance, the principle of subduing desires and living moderately.

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.

It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. . . . I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.

I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.

If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your own integrity. If you need a witness, be your own.

Sleep that masters all.

People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I've learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one's reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one's master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked.

Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will.

The world will ask you who you are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you.

Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

The two qualities that chiefly inspire regard and affection [are] that a thing is you own and that it is your only one.

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

To understand the true quality of people, you must look into their minds, and examine their pursuits and aversions.

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wide choice of many alternatives.

It is a very great thing to be able to think as you like; but, after all, an important question remains: what you think.

We acquire a particular quality by acting in a particular way.