Courage and Strength

Courage has need of reason, but it is not reason’s child; it springs from deeper strata.

What a new face courage puts on everything!

One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.

Zeal is a volcano, on the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow.

It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

One advantage resulting from virtuous actions is that they elevate the mind and dispose it to attempt others more virtuous still.

Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.

There are defeats more triumphant than victories.

The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.

Wherever the truth is injured, defend it.

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?

To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice.

As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

Integrity which has been attacked by no temptation can at best be considered but as gold not yet brought to the test, of which therefore the true value cannot be assigned.

Genius is talent exercised with courage.

Talent is a docile creature. It bows its head meekly while the world slips the collar over it. . . . But genius is always impatient of its harness; its wild blood makes it hard to train.

In the battle of existence, Talent is the punch; Tact is the clever footwork.

To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable.

He who bears in his heart a cathedral to be built is already victorious.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, “Thus far and no farther.”

Success is sweet, the sweeter if long delayed and attained through manifold struggles and defeats.

I’ve never forgotten for long at a time that living is struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for—whether it’s a field, or a home, or a country.

It’s better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you’re fighting for.