Religious faith, indeed, relates to that which is above us, but it must arise from that which is within us.
—Josiah Royce (1855–1916) American Idealist Philosopher
You will not find poetry anywhere unless you bring some of it with you.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
We’re all in this together … alone.
—Lily Tomlin (b.1939) American Comedy Actress
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
This gives force to the strong—that the multitude have no habit of self-reliance or original action.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The human mind, in proportion as it is deprived of external resources, sedulously labors to find within itself the means of happiness, learns to rely with confidence on its own exertions, and gains with greater certainty the power of being happy.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–95) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
A secure individual … knows that the responsibility for anything concerning his life remains with himself—and he accepts that responsibility.
—Harry Browne (1933–2006) American Author, Economist, Politician
Help yourself, and Heaven will help you.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
Don’t ask of your friends what you yourself can do.
—Ennius (c.239–169 BCE) Roman Poet
If you want to succeed in the world you must make your own opportunities as you go on. The man who waits for some seventh wave to toss him on dry land will find that the seventh wave is a long time coming.
—John Bartholomew Gough (1817–86) Anglo-American Temperance Orator
Fair play with others is primarily not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
No human being can really understand another, and no one can arrange another’s happiness.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
Time and I against any two.
—Spanish Proverb
A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. Your have to catch up with it yourself.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — “But these impulses may be from below, not from above”. I replied, “They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil”. No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
He who has no opinion of his own, but depends upon the opinion and taste of others, is a slave.
—Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) German Poet
Be yourself and think for yourself; and while your conclusions may not be infallible, they will be nearer right than the conclusions forced upon you.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
How we love to blame others for our misfortunes! Almost every individual who has lost money in stock speculation has on the tip of his tongue an explanation which he trots out to show that it wasn’t his own fault at all … Hardly one loser has the manliness to say frankly, “I was wrong”.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
In life, as in whist, hope nothing from the way cards may be dealt to you. Play the cards, whatever they be, to the best of your skill.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
He who is plenteously provided for from within needs but little from without.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Men throw themselves on foreign assistances to spare their own, which, after all, are the only certain and sufficient ones.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of man. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to Heaven.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
—Alexis Carrel (1873–1944) American Surgeon, Biologist
I have always regarded myself as the pillar of my life.
—Meryl Streep (b.1949) American Actor
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