15 Quotes by Ralph Moody

Always remember, Son, the best boss is the one who bosses the least. Whether it’s cattle, or horses, or men; the least government is the best government.

You know, Son, sometimes a fellow has to take a licking for doing the right thing. A licking only lasts a short while, even if it’s a hard one, but failing to do the right thing will often make a mark on a man that will last forever.

You know, a man’s life is a lot like a boat. If he keeps his sail set right it doesn’t make too much difference which way the wind blows or which way the current flows. If he knows where he wants to go and keeps his sail trimmed carefully he’ll come into the right port. But if he forgets to watch his sail till the current catches him broadside he’s pretty apt to smash up on the rocks.

Betcha my life! But you got lots o’ years to learn em’ in. Don’t go rarin’ at ′ em like as if tomorrow’d be the day o’ jedgment!

One is respected in a community to the extent, and only to the extent, that he or she respects his own position in life. There are doctors, lawyers, and even clergymen who are a disgrace to humanity, and the disciples of Christ were lowly fishermen. I would not, for all the world, have any one of you children grow up to feel that you were less than equal in every way to any other human being who walks the face of the earth.

But I knew a lot more than that; I knew exactly what sort of man he was in his old age, so it wasn’t hard to guess what he must have been like as a young man – for a man’s character doesn’t change after he’s thirty. It only becomes more firmly set, and is more deeply marked in his features.