Samuel Smiles Quotes

“A fig-tree looking on a fig-tree becometh fruitful, says the Arabian proverb. And so it is with children; their first great instructor is example.”

“A great deal of what passes by the name of patriotism in these days consists of the merest bigotry and narrow-mindedness; exhibiting itself in national prejudice, national conceit, and national hatred.

It does not show itself in deeds, but in boastings – in howlings, gesticulations, and shrieking helplessly for help – in flying flags and singing songs – and in perpetual grinding at the hurdy-gurdy of long-dead grievances and long-remedied wrongs.

To be infested by such a patriotism as this is perhaps among the greatest curses that can befall any country.”

“A man may be accomplished in art, literature, and science, and yet, in honesty, virtue, truthfulness, and the spirit of duty, be entitled to take rank after many a poor and illiterate peasant.”

“At the same time, while Duty, for the most part, applies to the conduct of affairs in common life by the average of common men, it is also a sustaining power to men of the very highest standard of character.

They may not have either money, or property, or learning, or power; and yet they may be strong in heart and rich in spirit—honest, truthful, dutiful. And whoever strives to do his duty faithfully is fulfilling the purpose for which he was created, and building up in himself the principles of a manly character.

There are many persons of whom it may be said that they have no other possession in the world but their character, and yet they stand as firmly upon it as any crowned king.”

“Cheerfulness is also an excellent wearing quality. It has been called the bright weather of the heart.”

“Childhood is like a mirror, which reflects in afterlife the images first presented to it. The first thing continues forever with the child.

The first joy, the first sorrow, the first success, the first failure, the first achievement, the first misadventure, paint the foreground of his life.”

“Commit a child to the care of a worthless, ignorant woman, and no culture in after-life will remedy the evil you have done.”

“For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making, and rendering success impossible by their own cross-grained ungentleness; whilst others, it may be much less gifted, make their way and achieve success by simple patience, equanimity, and self-control.”

“For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making.”

“If surrounded by ignorance, coarseness, and selfishness, they will unconsciously assume the same character, and grow up to adult years rude, uncultivated, and all the more dangerous to society if placed amidst the manifold temptations of what is called civilised life.

"Give your child to be educated by a slave," said an ancient Greek, "and instead of one slave, you will then have two."

The child cannot help imitating what he sees. Everything is to him a model — of manner, of gesture, of speech, of habit, of character.

"For the child," says Richter, "the most important era of life is that of childhood, when he begins to colour and mould himself by companionship with others.”

“Indeed, we can always better understand and appreciate a man's real character by the manner in which he conducts himself towards those who are the most nearly related to him, and by his transaction of the seemingly commonplace details of daily duty, than by his public exhibition of himself as an author, an orator, or a statesman.”

“It is energy – the central element of which is will – that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages.

Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.”

“Labour may be a burden and a chastisement, but it is also an honour and a glory. Without it, nothing can be accomplished.”

“Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.”

“Men of genuine excellence, in every station of life — men of industry, of integrity, of high principle, of sterling honesty of purpose — command the spontaneous homage of mankind.

It is natural to believe in such men, to have confidence in them, and to imitate them. All that is good in the world is upheld by them, and without their presence in it the world would not be worth living in.

Although genius always commands admiration, character most secures respect. The former is more the product of brain-power, the latter of heart-power; and in the long run it is the heart that rules in life.

Men of genius stand to society in the relation of its intellect, as men of character of its conscience; and while the former are admired, the latter are followed.

Great men are always exceptional men; and greatness itself is but comparative. Indeed, the range of most men in life is so limited, that very few have the opportunity of being great.

But each man can act his part honestly and honourably, and to the best of his ability. He can use his gifts, and not abuse them. He can strive to make the best of life.”

“Politeness goes far, yet costs nothing.”

“Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.”

“Self-control is only courage under another form. It may also be regarded as the primary essence of character.”

“Simple honesty of purpose in a man goes a long way in life, if founded on a just estimate of himself and a steady obedience to the rule he knows and feels to be right.”

“The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.”

“The great lesson of biography is to show what man can be and do at his best. A noble life put fairly on record acts like an inspiration to others.”

“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.”

“The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.”

“Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their authors' minds ages ago.”

“Truthfulness is at the foundation of all personal excellence.”

“When the time arrives in any country when wealth has so corrupted, or pleasure so depraved, or faction so infatuated the people, that honour, order, obedience, virtue, and loyalty have seemingly become things of the past; then, amidst the darkness, when honest men — if, haply, there be such left — are groping about and feeling for each other's hands, their only remaining hope will be in the restoration and elevation of Individual Character.”

“Whilst writing all this, I have had in my mind a woman, whose strong and serious mind would not have failed to support me in these contentions. I lost her thirty years ago (I was a child then) – nevertheless, ever living in my memory, she follows me from age to age.

She suffered with me in my poverty, and was not allowed to share my better fortune. When young, I made her sad, and now I cannot console her. I know not even where her bones are: I was too poor then to buy earth to bury her!

And yet I owe her much. I feel deeply that I am the son of woman. Every instant, in my ideas and words (not to mention my features and gestures), I find again my mother in myself.

It is my mother's blood which gives me the sympathy I feel for bygone ages, and the tender remembrance of all those who are now no more.

What return then could I, who am myself advancing towards old age, make her for the many things I owe her? One, for which she would have thanked me – this protest in favour of women and mothers.”

“Woman is the heart of humanity – its grace, ornament, and solace.”