To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.

To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree read more

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Many men are mere warehouses full of merchandise--the head, the
heart, are stuffed with goods. . . . There read more

Many men are mere warehouses full of merchandise--the head, the
heart, are stuffed with goods. . . . There are apartments in
their souls which were once tenanted by taste, and love, and joy,
and worship, but they are all deserted now, and the rooms are
filled with earthy and material things.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, read more

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

A great unrecognized incapacity.
[Fr., Une grande incapacite inconnue.]

A great unrecognized incapacity.
[Fr., Une grande incapacite inconnue.]

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith; invincible in read more

Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms.

So well she acted all and every part
By turns--with that vivacious versatility,
Which many people take read more

So well she acted all and every part
By turns--with that vivacious versatility,
Which many people take for want of heart.
They err--'tis merely what is call'd mobility,
A thing of temperament and not of art,
Though seeming so, from its supposed facility;
And false--though true; for surely they're sincerest
Who are strongly acted on by what is nearest.