Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.

Thus the brave and aspiring life of one man lights a flame in the minds of others of like faculties and impulse; and where there is equally vigorous effort, like distinction and success will almost surely follow. Thus the chain of example is carried down through time in an endless succession of links--admiration exciting imitation, and perpetuating the true aristocracy of genius.

The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.

All that is great in man comes through work; and civilization is its product.

The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to follow him.

The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.

The knowledge and experience which produce wisdom can only become a man's individual possession and property by his own free action; and it is as futile to expect these without laborious, painstaking effort, as it is to hope to gather a harvest where the seed has not been sown.

Opportunities ... fall in the way of every man who is resolved to take advantage of them.

The crown and glory of life is character. It is the noblest possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the general good-will; dignifying every station, and exalting every position in society. It exercises a greater power than wealth, and secures all the honor without the jealousies of fame. It carries with it an influence which always tell; for it is the result of proved honor, rectitude, and consistency-qualities which, perhaps more than any other, command the general confidence and respect of mankind.