24 quotes
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)
A place for everything, and everything in its place.
Thrift (1875)
"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is a well-tried maxim, embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)
Mere political reform will not cure the manifold evils which now afflict society. There requires a social reform, a domestic reform, an individual reform.
Samuel Smiles and the Victorian Work Ethic (1987)
Conscience is that peculiar faculty of the soul which may be called the religious instinct.
In business affairs, it is the manner in which even small matters are transacted that often decides man for or against you.
Good actions give strength to ourselves, and inspire good actions in others.
Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)
Life is of little value unless it be consecrated by duty.
There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is difficult to be mistaken.
To uproot an old habit is sometimes a more painful thing, and vastly more difficult, than to wrench out a tooth.
Riches are oftener an impediment than a stimulus to action; and in many cases they are quite as much a misfortune as a blessing.
Obedience, submission, discipline, courage — these are among the characteristics which make a man.
Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not lie ready to their hand, they will make them.
The greatest slave is not he who is ruled by a despot, great though that evil be, but he who is in the thrall of his own moral ignorance, selfishness, and vice.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)
Worldly success, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a very dazzling thing; and all men are naturally more or less the admirers of worldly success.
Every word, thought, and deed has its influence upon the destiny of man. Every life, well spent or ill spent, bears with it a long train of consequences, extending through generations yet unborn.
Laws, wisely administered, will secure men in the enjoyment of the fruits of their labour, whether of mind or body, at a comparatively small personal sacrifice; but no laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)
It is energy—the central element of which is will—that produces the miracles of enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is the main-spring of what is called force of character, and the sustaining power of all great action.
The Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflex of the individuals composing it. The Government that is ahead of the people will inevitably be dragged down to their level, as the Government that is behind them will in the long run be dragged up.
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859)