Death is the dropping of the flower, that the fruit may, swell.

There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but...

No man is more cheated than the selfish man.

Hold yourself to a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

It is a man’s duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries in life.

It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is the rust upon the blade. It is not...

All words are pegs to hang ideas on.

Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.

A little library, growing larger every year, is an honourable part of a man’s history. It is a man’s duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of...

‎Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else.

We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him landlord to a ghost.

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.

Pride slays thanksgiving … A prideful man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.

Men’s best successes come after their disappointments.

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.

There are more quarrels smothered by just shutting your mouth, and holding it shut, than by all the wisdom in the world.

the difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won’t

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?

A book is good company. It is full of conversation without loquacity. It comes to your longing with full instruction, but pursues you never.

Adversity, if for no other reason, is of benefit, since it is sure to bring a season of sober reflection. People see clearer at such times. Storms purify the atmosphere.

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.

To the great tree-loving fraternity we belong. We love trees with universal and unfeigned love, and all things that do grow under them or around them – the whole leaf and root tribe.

Now comes the mystery! (last words)

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.

No man is sane who does not know how to be insane on the proper occasions.”Henry Ward Beecher

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.