Society and the World

The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.

The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.

The great law of culture: Let each become all that he was created capable of being.

It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions.

My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremendous. I am all I have to work with, to play with, to suffer and to enjoy. It is not the eyes of others that I am wary of, but of my own. I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

Duties are not performed for duties' sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty, the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.

The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.

To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.

Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference.

Decide on what you think is right, and stick to it.

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me." And then you have found that attitude, follow it.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Circumstances do not make the man; they merely reveal him to himself.

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?

Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame.

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered either by themselves or by others.

If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it.

Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your own experience or convictions.

The action required to sustain human life is primarily intellectual, everything man needs has to be discovered by his mind and produced by his effort.