Quotes to inspire and reflect

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.

Nothing in the world is so rare as a person one can always put up with.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.

That which we call sin in others is experiment for us.

To be idle requires a strong sense of personal identity.

I have never for one instant seen clearly within myself. How then would you have me judge the deeds of others?

Whoever wants to be a judge of human nature should study people’s excuses.

A life of ease is a difficult pursuit.

Laziness is nothing more than resting before you get tired.

Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep the head long on a level with the feet.

Gossip is that which no one claims to like—but everybody enjoys.

He who praises everybody praises nobody.

I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

Grow angry slowly—there’s plenty of time.

Anger is a symptom, a way of cloaking and expressing feelings too awful to experience directly—hurt, bitterness, grief and, most of all, fear.

People who insist on telling their dreams are among the terrors of the breakfast table.

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life but that it bothers him less and less.

A bore is a fellow talker who can change the subject to his topic of conversation faster than you can change it back to yours.

Bores bore each other, too, but it never seems to teach them anything.

A fanatic is someone who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

Everybody has the right to express what he thinks. That, of course, lets the crackpots in. But if you cannot tell a crackpot when you see one, then you ought to be taken in.

Only a fool argues with a skunk, a mule or the cook.

I’m not denyin’ the women are foolish: God Almighty made ’em to match the men.

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.

There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man.

Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist but in the ability to start over.

It is wise to remember that you are one of those who can be fooled some of the time.

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.

Generosity always wins favor, particularly when accompanied by modesty.

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.

The work of an unknown good man is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground greener.

If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

Ten thousand bad traits cannot make a single good one any the less good.

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.

On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.

He who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass.

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?

Two important things are to have a genuine interest in people and to be kind to them. Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life.

He best can pity who has felt the woe.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

You can’t test courage cautiously.

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage.

Courage is often lack of insight, whereas cowardice in many cases is based on good information.