Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Distinction is the consequence, never the object of a great mind.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.

One of the things that has helped me as much as any other, is not how long I am going to live, but how much I can do while living.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-brought experience.

I hold before you my hand with each finger standing erect and alone, and as long as they are held thus, not one of the tasks that the hand may preform can be accomplished. I cannot lift. I cannot grasp. I cannot hold. I cannot even make an intelligible sign until my fingers organize and work together. In this we should also learn a lesson.

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also - if you love them enough.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.

To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.

When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.

Money, we know, will fetch anything and command the service of any man.

Differences in political opinion are as unavoidable as, to a certain point, they may perhaps be necessary.

There is nothing that gives a man consequence, and renders him fit for command, like a support that renders him independent of everybody but the State he serves.

I believe that the great Creator has put ores and oil on this earth to give us a breathing spell. As we exhaust them, we must be prepared to fall back on our farms, which is God?s true storehouse and can never be exhausted. We can learn to synthesize material for every human need from things that grow.

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong -- because someday you will have been all of these.

The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply, ...finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

To please everybody is impossible were I to undertake it, I should probably please nobody.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow grow, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! It is a dangerous servant and a terrible master.

'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.