Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance. It is character which builds an existence out of circumstance. From the same materials one man builds palaces, another hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar are mortar and bricks until the architect can make them something else.
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Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part nearest the
ground finished; but that part which soars toward read more
Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part nearest the
ground finished; but that part which soars toward heaven, the
turrets and the spires, forever incomplete.
Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is read more
Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.
Only the mediocre are always at their best!
Only the mediocre are always at their best!
Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious,
Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius.
Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious,
Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius.
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
Inner liberty can be judged by how often a person feels offended, for you can no more insult a mature read more
Inner liberty can be judged by how often a person feels offended, for you can no more insult a mature man that you can paint the air.
From their folded mates they wander far,
Their ways seem harsh and wild:
They follow the beck read more
From their folded mates they wander far,
Their ways seem harsh and wild:
They follow the beck of a baleful star,
Their paths are dream-beguiled.
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.
Your father used to come home to my mother, and why may not I be
a chippe of the read more
Your father used to come home to my mother, and why may not I be
a chippe of the same block out of which you two were cutte?
