quotes from classic

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

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No man was ever great by imitation.

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So many objections may be made to everything, that nothing can overcome them but the necessity of doing something.

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Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

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Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle.

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Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.

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Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.

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You never find people laboring to convince you that you may live very happily upon a plentiful income.

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Players, Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables and joint stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing dogs.

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Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both.

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Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return.

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Sings. Hope in every sphere of life is a privilege that attaches to action. No action, no hope.

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No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library.

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The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.

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Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test.

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It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.

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Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.

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Read over your compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.

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The world is seldom what it seems; to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities.

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Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.

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