Self-reliance, the height and perfection of man, is reliance on God.

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.

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

I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.

A fair character is a fair fortune.

Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.

Plans will get you into things, but you have got to work your way out.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies—it is the first law of nature.

Life in common among people who love each other is the ideal of happiness.

So long as you are secure you will count many friends; if your life becomes clouded you will be alone.

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

For friendship, like freedom, must be tended.

A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.

Luxury is not a necessity to me, but beautiful and good things are.

The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is whether you are alive before death.

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

Man lives in a world of surmise, of mystery, of uncertainties.

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

Have regular hours for work & play; make each day both useful & pleasant and prove you understand the worth of time by employing it well.

I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its own storms, it has its tides, and in its depths, it has its pearls too.

Loosen up. Life is a lesson. Learn from it and progress on!

It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life.

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.

We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. This may well be mankind's last chance between chaos and community.

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative, they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence.

My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.

At the center of your being you are the answer. You know who you are, and you know what you want.

When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.

All limitations are self-imposed.

Benevolence is man’s mind, and righteousness is man’s path.

Emotions are inherent in your nature, but their content is dictated by your mind.

None are more taken in by flattery than the proud, who wish to be the first and are not.

He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still.

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions, insofar as these concern the interests of no person but himself.

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.

One can acquire everything in solitude—except character.

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.