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Necessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention and the most prolific school of all has been the school of difficulty.

Samuel Smiles

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Samuel Smiles
Age: 91 †
Born: 1812
Born: December 23
Died: 1904
Died: April 16
Author
Biographer
Journalist
Philosopher
Writer
Haddington
East Lothian
Invention
Difficulty
Mother
School
Oftener
Prolific
Facility
Necessity

More quotes by Samuel Smiles

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No good thing is ever lost. Nothing dies, not even life which gives up one form only to resume another. No good action, no good example dies. It lives forever in our race. While the frame moulders and disappears, the deed leaves an indelible stamp, and molds the very thought and will of future generations.
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Energy of will may be defined to be the very central power of character in a man.
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Good character is property. It is the noblest of all possessions.
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The possession of a library, or the free use of it, no more constitutes learning, than the possession of wealth constitutes generosity.
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No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober. Such reforms can only be effected by means of individual action, economy and self-denial by better habits, rather than by greater rights.
Samuel Smiles
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It is natural to admire and revere really great men. They hallow the nation to which they belong, and lift up not only all who live in their time, but those who live after them. Their great example becomes the common heritage of their race and their great deeds and great thoughts are the most glorious legacies of mankind.
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When typhus or cholera breaks out, they tell us that Nobody is to blame. That terrible Nobody! How much he has to answer for. More mischief is done by Nobody than by all the world besides.
Samuel Smiles
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The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.
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Cheerfulness is also an excellent wearing quality. It has been called the bright weather of the heart.
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There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is difficult to be mistaken.
Samuel Smiles
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The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.
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Obedience, submission, discipline, courage--these are among the characteristics which make a man.
Samuel Smiles
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The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to raise them as a class and this, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher and still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue.
Samuel Smiles
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The government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflux of the individuals composing it. The government that is ahead of the people will be inevitably dragged down to their level, as the government that is behind them will in the long run be dragged up.
Samuel Smiles
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For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making.
Samuel Smiles
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It is observed at sea that men are never so much disposed to grumble and mutiny as when least employed. Hence an old captain, when there was nothing else to do, would issue the order to scour the anchor.
Samuel Smiles
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The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to follow him.
Samuel Smiles
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Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.
Samuel Smiles
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Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.
Samuel Smiles
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Men cannot be raised in masses as the mountains were in he early geological states of the world. They must be dealt with as units for it is only by the elevation of individuals that the elevation of the masses can be effectively secured.
Samuel Smiles