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    There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture, and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.

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  27  /  16  

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not read more

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not seeking any other, better form of satisfying the same needs. Every habit, good or bad, is acquired and learned in the same way -- by finding that it is a means of satisfaction.

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  9  /  15  

But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

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  7  /  12  

In the world of reality, life, and human action there is no such thing as interests independent of ideas, preceding read more

In the world of reality, life, and human action there is no such thing as interests independent of ideas, preceding them temporarily and logically. What a man considers his interest is the result of his ideas.

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Men who love wisdom should acquaint themselves with a great many particulars.

Men who love wisdom should acquaint themselves with a great many particulars.

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  15  /  14  

...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very read more

...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very difficult to root out. When summarized in a few neat words or phrases, these gems of wisdom become substitutes for thought, and gradually take on much of the status of revealed truth. Occasionally, some iconoclast sees fit to challenge one of them, and a brief flurry ensues, after which things go on about as before. It is easy to think of plenty of ideas that are passing, if they have not already passed, beyond the stage of effective discussion.

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  31  /  44  

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

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No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

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  37  /  37  

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

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Irony is the hygiene of the mind.

Irony is the hygiene of the mind.

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