“ Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step. ”

“ We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. ”

“ The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I'm as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me! ”

“ Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry. ”

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

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