It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If we are to be a really great people, we must strive in good faith to play a great part in the world. We cannot avoid meeting great issues. All that we can determine for ourselves is whether we shall meet them well or ill.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Historian, Political Leader, Explorer
Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Important principles may and must be inflexible.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Every generation of Americans needs to know
that freedom consists not in doing what we like,
but in having the right to do what we ought.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
Essential characteristics of a gentleman: The will to put himself in the place of others; the horror of forcing others into positions from which he would himself recoil; the power to do what seems to him to be right, without considering what others may say or think.
—John Galsworthy (1867–1933) English Novelist, Playwright
Confronted with the choice, the American people would choose the policeman’s truncheon over the anarchist’s bomb.
—Spiro Agnew (1918–96) American Politician, Vice President
It is any day better to stand erect with a broken and bandaged head then to crawl on one’s belly, in order to be able to save one’s head.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969) American Baptist Minister
When people are least sure, they are often most dogmatic.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
The worth of every conviction consists precisely in the steadfastness with which it is held.
—Jane Addams (1860–1935) American Social Reformer, Feminist
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American Architect
The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
If we would have anything of benefit, we must earn it, and earning it become shrewd, inventive, ingenious, active, enterprising.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The hallmark of courage in our age of conformity is the capacity to stand on one’s convictions not obstinately or defiantly (these are gestures of defensiveness, not courage) nor as a gesture of retaliation, but simply because these are what one believes.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
Oh how sweet it is to hear one’s own convictions from another’s lips.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
We must not in the course of public life expect immediate approbation and immediate grateful acknowledgment of our services. But let us persevere through abuse and even injury. The internal satisfaction of a good conscience is always present, and time will do us justice in the minds of the people, even those at present the most prejudiced against us.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
—Louis Pasteur (1822–95) French Biologist
Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
If I also, perhaps, stood before the prospect of
finding myself in a minority of one voice,
I humbly believe that I would have the courage
to remain in such a hopeless minority.
This is for me the only truthful position.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Never, “for the sake of peace and quiet,” deny your own experience and convictions.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
Those who believe that they are exclusively in the right are generally those who achieve something.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
The phrases that men hear or repeat continually, end by becoming convictions and ossify the organs of intelligence.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is the master of all who are uncertain and wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world.
—James Freeman Clarke (1810–88) American Clergyman, Author
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