230 Quotes by Samuel Smiles

The best-regulated home is always that in which the discipline is the most perfect, and yet where it is the least felt. Moral discipline acts with the force of a law of nature.

It is idleness that is the curse of man - not labour. Idleness eats the heart out of men as of nations, and consumes them as rust does iron.

The most influential of all the virtues are those which are the most in request for daily use. They wear the best, and last the longest.

He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.

Luck lies in bed, and wishes the postman would bring him news of a legacy; labor turns out at six, and with busy pen or ringing hammer lays the foundation of a competence.

Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.

The possession of a library, or the free use of it, no more constitutes learning, than the possession of wealth constitutes generosity.

Character is property. It is the noblest of possessions.

The great leader attracts to himself men of kindred character, drawing them towards him as the loadstone draws iron.