The average Englishman does not see why a stranger should accost him with jocosity – many Englishmen do not see why a stranger should accost them at all

A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration.

Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use...

The fear of life is the favorite disease of the twentieth century

You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.

Whenever it is in any way possible, every boy and girl should choose as his life work some occupation which he should like to do anyhow, even if he did not need the money.

There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life.

If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.

One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute

God speaks to me not through the thunder and the earthquake, nor through the ocean and the stars, but through the Son of Man, and speaks in a language adapted to my imperfect sight and...

The happiest person is he who thinks the most interesting thoughts.

The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.

If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.

I cannot explain to another the joy and the happiness I get out of teaching. It is more than a profession, an occupation, a vocation, a struggle; it is a passion, for I love to...

Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him

I am glad my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower, but I am gladder that there are nine generations between us.

The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation,...

Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense

If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.

In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions every three weeks.

I divide all readers into two classes: Those who read to remember and those who read to forget

A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands.

If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow.

A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.