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The block of granite which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a steppingstone in the path of the strong.

— Thomas Carlyle Misattributed

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Source and credibility

Thomas Carlyle very probably did not say this. Wikiquote lists it as misattributed.

Source: Widely attributed to Carlyle, but actually from G. H. Lewes, Life of Goethe, ch. 3 (1855). The error likely stems from the more famous Carlyle's friendship with and numerous writings about Goethe.
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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Every noble crown is, and on earth will forever be, a crown of thorns.

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Happy the people whose annals are blank in history books!

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Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts.

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No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.

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

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A well-written Life is almost as rare as a well-spent one.

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History is the essence of innumerable biographies.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Carlyle (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.