Top 187 Quotes & Sayings by Samuel Smiles

Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.

Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.

He who labours not, cannot enjoy the reward of labour.

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.

Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the very nature of things be their own best helpers.

The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.

I'm as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me!

The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors.

Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.

The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

Simple honesty of purpose in a man goes a long way in life, if founded on a just estimate of himself and a steady obedience to the rule he knows and feels to be right.

Work is one of the best educators of practical character.

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.

The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.

The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning; whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom.

It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.

The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.

It is idleness that is the curse of man - not labour. Idleness eats the heart out of men as of nations, and consumes them as rust does iron.

Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.

Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.

The best-regulated home is always that in which the discipline is the most perfect, and yet where it is the least felt. Moral discipline acts with the force of a law of nature.

Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.

Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.

Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.

Idleness of the mind is much worse than that of the body: wit, without employment, is a disease - the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself.

Character is property. It is the noblest of possessions.

Labour may be a burden and a chastisement, but it is also an honour and a glory. Without it, nothing can be accomplished.

Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action.

Length of years is no proper test of length of life. A man's life is to be measured by what he does in it and what he feels in it.

Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.

The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.

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.

The reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is attempted.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a property entirely our own.

It is energy - the central element of which is will - that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.

Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes imitation of them in a greater or less degree.

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.

Woman is the heart of humanity ... its grace, ornament, and solace.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But all play and no work makes him something worse.

Help from without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates.

No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober.

Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.

It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even though a man should for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be honest: better lose all and save character. For character is itself a fortune. . . .

For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making.

Men whose acts are at variance with their words command no respect, and what they say has but little weight.

Politeness goes far, yet costs nothing.

Character is itself a fortune.

There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is difficult to be mistaken.

Where there is a will there is a way.

A great deal of what passes by the name of patriotism in these days consists of the merest bigotry and narrow-mindedness; exhibiting itself in national prejudice, national conceit, and national hatred. It does not show itself in deeds, but in boastings--in howlings, gesticulations, and shrieking helplessly for help--in flying flags and singing songs--and in perpetual grinding at the hurdy-gurdy of long-dead grievances and long-remedied wrongs. To be infested by such a patriotism as this is perhaps among the greatest curses that can befall any country.

Good character is property. It is the noblest of all possessions.

It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit of life.

It's not enough to have a dream, Unless you're willing to pursue it. It's not enough to know what's right, Unless you're strong enough to do it. It's not enough to learn the truth, Unless you also learn to live it. It's not enough to reach for love, Unless you care enough to give it Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.

The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the true source of national vigour and strength. Help from without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates