Samuel Smiles

It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even though a man should for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be honest: better lose all and save character. For character is itself a fortune. . . .

Time is of no account with great thoughts. They are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author's minds, ages ago.

The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

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

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

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

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Cecil's dispatch of business was extraordinary, his maxim being, "The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once."