The sunshine of life is made up of very little beams that are bright all the time. To give up something, when giving up will prevent unhappiness; to yield, when persisting will chafe and fret others; to go a little around rather than come against another; to take an ill look or a cross word quietly, rather than resent or return it,—these are the ways in which clouds and storms are kept off, and a pleasant and steady sunshine secured.
—John Aikin
Topics: Happiness
He whose first emotion, on the view of an excellent work, is to undervalue or depreciate it, will never have one of his own to show.
—John Aikin
Topics: Critics
To choose a good book, look in an inquisitor’s prohibited list.
—John Aikin
Topics: Books
Nothing is such an obstacle to the production of excellence as the power of producing what is good with ease and rapidity.
—John Aikin
Topics: Excellence
The hardest trial of the heart is, whether it can bear a rival’s failure without triumph.
—John Aikin
Topics: Heart, Trials
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