Circumstances are the rulers of the weak; they are but the instruments of the wise.
—Samuel Lover (1797–1868) Anglo-Irish Writer, Artist, Songwriter
There’s no one to stop you but yourself.
—R. David Thomas (1932–2002) American Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Theologian
Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple will crumble to dust.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
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
There are three types of baseball players—those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.
—Tommy Lasorda (1927–2021) American Baseball Player, Coach
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
Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to Heaven.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any excuses, is the day you start to the top.
—O. J. Simpson (1947–2024) American NFL Player, Broadcaster, Actor
We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice — that is, until we have stopped saying “It got lost,” and say, “I lost it.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
I am my own heaven and hell.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Happiness is not in our circumstances, but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.
—John B. Sheerin (1907–92) American Catholic Columnist
There is no man so low down that the cure for his condition does not lie strictly within himself.
—Thomas Lansing Masson (1866–1934) American Anthropologist, Editor, Author
You can’t get spoiled if you do your own ironing.
—Meryl Streep (b.1949) American Actor
Choice of attention – to pay attention to this and ignore that – is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
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 the artificer of his own happiness.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
At the bottom no one in life can help anyone else in life; this one experiences over and over in every conflict and every perplexity: that one is alone. That isn’t as bad as it may first appear; and again it is the best thing in life that each should have everything in himself; his fate, his future, his whole expanse and world.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
A man who finds no satisfaction in himself, seeks for it in vain elsewhere.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one’s self.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
Whatever task you undertake, do it with all your heart and soul. Always be courteous, never be discouraged. Beware of him who promises something for nothing. Do not blame anybody for your mistakes and failures. Do not look for approval except the consciousness of doing your best.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
He who would be well taken care of must take care of himself.
—William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) American Polymath, Historian, Sociologist, Anthropologist
We must not calculate on the weather, or on fortune, but upon God and ourselves.—He may fail us in the gratification of our wishes, but never in the encounter with our exigencies.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Historian, Novelist, Editor
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
You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
In the schools of the wrestling master, when a boy falls he is bidden to get up again, and to go on wrestling day by day till he has acquired strength; and we must do the same, and not after one failure suffer ourselves to be swept along as by a torrent. You need but will, and it is done; but if you relax your efforts you will be ruined; for ruin and recovery are both from within.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
God helps them that help themselves.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The efficient man is the man who thinks for himself.
—Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) American Educationalist
The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
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