Courage and Strength

To be a hero, one must give an order to oneself.

Whoe’er excels in what we prize, Appears a hero in our eyes.

Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach.

Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields which have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes.

The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one’s self a fool; the truest heroism is to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom, to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed.

Do not mistake your objection to defeat for an objection to fighting, your objection to being a slave for an objection to slavery, your objection to not being as rich as your neighbor for an objection to poverty. The cowardly, the insubordinate, and the envious share your objections.

No age or condition is without its heroes. The least incapable general in a nation is its Cæsar, the least imbecile statesman its Solon, the least confused thinker its Socrates, the least commonplace poet its Shakespear.

Disobedience, the rarest and most courageous of the virtues, is seldom distinguished from neglect, the laziest and commonest of the vices.

I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean.

Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard.

LIFE’S A BITCH. YOU’VE GOT TO GO OUT AND KICK ASS.

Heaven never helps the man who will not act.

True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.

I claim to be no more than an average man with below average capabilities. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would put forth the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.

The mind, ever the willing servant, will respond to boldness, for boldness, in effect, is a command to deliver mental resources.

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.

We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.

What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations … is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of being able to change things by one’s own efforts.

Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.

The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Resolve says, ‘I will.’ The man says, ‘I will climb this mountain. They told me it is too high, too far, too steep, too rocky and too difficult. But it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You will soon see me waving from the top or dead on the side from trying.

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.