To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristics in men.

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

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.

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.

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

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh unless, since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience the injustice of our fellows.

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.

It cannot be your duty to do anything that is beyond your reach or your strength at the moment. It cannot be your duty to do anything that sacrifices your own integrity or your own spiritual development.

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.

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.

Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.

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

These are the arks, the trophies, I erect, That fortify thy name against old age.

You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends.

An undutiful daughter will prove an unmanageable wife.

He whose honor depends on the opinion of the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the mob is varied and inconsistent, and therefore if a reputation is not carefully preserved it dies quickly.

Everything you said should be true but not everything true should be said.

There is but one thing of real value—to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in the newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.

The truth is not wonderful enough to suit the newspapers; so they enlarge upon it and invent ridiculous embellishments.

Lie to a liar, for lies are his coin; steal from a thief, for that is easy; lay a trap for a trickster and catch him at first attempt, but beware of an honest man.

The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow eating agony of a lie is never lost.

Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.