The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Who loves, labors.
You stored your milk in a straining metal…and now you’re complaining about bad luck?
There are twenty-five uncaught birds for a penny.
Everyone thinks his own thoughts are best.
The world does not make promises to anybody.
Send a boy where he wishes to go, and you will see his best pace.
A man who pays respect to the great paves his own way for greatness.
Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
When the heart acts, the body is its slave.
If you live next to the cemetery, you can’t cry for everyone.
A wise man doesn’t know everything—only a fool does.
Anxiety will not let you die of hunger.
Looking for something can get in the way of finding it.
Honor a child, and he will honor you.
A leopard is chasing us, and you are asking me, “Is it a male or a female?”
God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to his heart.
I have heard and experienced that bondage and liberation are within yourself.
Influenced by greed, a person resorts to untruth.
A secret for two is soon a secret for nobody.
Since we didn’t say anything, he thought he could do whatever he wanted to.
A day without work, a night without sleep.
Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering; and it’s all over much too soon.
Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
After all is said and done, more is said than done.
The opportunity of a lifetime is seldom so labeled.
An ounce of proof is worth a ton of assertions.
Boys will be boys.
The road to the head lies through the heart.
You made your bed, now lie in it.
Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
There are two sides to every story—and then there’s the truth.
We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
If you make yourself into a doormat, people will wipe their feet on you.
Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.
We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.
A smile is worth a thousand words.
There’s no use asking the cow to pour you a glass of milk.
When the bait’s worth more than the fish, it’s time to stop fishing.
The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.
General Grant had a simple, childlike [recipe] for meeting life ... “I am terribly afraid, but the other fellow is afraid, too.”
The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.
A madman is not cured by another running mad also.
Beware of the person of one book.
It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.
A sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to our steps as we walk the tightrope of life.
Trust God, but tie up your camel.
Throw a resourceful man into a river, and he’ll probably come out with a fish in his hand.
If you stop every time a dog barks, then your road will never end.
If man’s mouth were silent, then another part would speak.
Many wars have been caused by a single word.
How can the eater of dates prohibit the eating of dates?
It’s better to have a thousand enemies outside of the tent than one inside the tent.
Don’t pour away your water due to a mirage.
If you wonder often, the gift of understanding will come.
May our thoughts reach the sky where there is holiness.
A dog that always barks gets little attention.
A man who develops himself is twice born.
The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
If you chase two rabbits [at the same time], you will not catch either of them.
When someone’s wealth improves, their home’s columns suddenly appear crooked.
If you speak too much, you will learn too little.
There is no reason for war that reasonable men can’t settle.
Priest on the outside, Satan on the inside.
On a rainy day, many people volunteer to water the chickens.
There are two things people want more than sex and money... recognition and praise.
Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.
…Rrather than assume the responsibility of directing their own footsteps, they [people] wait until someone takes the lead, and then away they stampede after him.
Man acts not upon EVERY desire, but upon the STRONGEST Desire, or the Average of his Strongest Desires.
Man need not be a slave or creature of his Desires if he will assert his Mastery. He may control, regulate, govern and guide his Desires in any directions that he pleases. Nay, more, he may even CREATE DESIRES by an action of his Will…
Trust not the world, for it never pays that it promises.
Miracles are not contrary to nature; they are only contrary to what we know about nature.
To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.
If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend. But if two strangers approach you with the same request, accept, because you will gain one friend.
Those who lose dreaming are lost.
The clash of ideas brings forth the spark of truth.
We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love; and then we return home.
A light is still a light, even though the blind man cannot see it.
Doing good to others is not a duty—it is a joy, for it increases your own health and happiness.
Laughter is the remedy for 1001 illnesses.