658 Quotes by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The greatest obstacle to being heroic is to doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is, to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom, to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed.

Unquestionably we do stand by our national flag as stoutly as any people in the world; and I myself have felt the heart-throb at sight of it, as sensibly as other men.

Death possesses a good deal, of real estate, namely, the graveyard in every town.

Some illusions...are the shadows of great truths.

A hero cannot be a hero unless in an heroic world

Thus we see, too, in the world that some persons assimilate only what is ugly and evil from the same moral circumstances which supply good and beautiful results--the fragrance of celestial flowers--to the daily life of others.

We sometimes congratulate ourselves...

I love my mother, but there has been, ever since my boyhood, a sort of coldness of intercourse between us, such as is apt to come between people of strong feelings.

Not yet hardened, many young die good.