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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

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Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.
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The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, and you have all men's hearts and purses.
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Example teaches better than precept. It is the best modeler of the character of men and women. To set a lofty example is the richest bequest a man can leave behind him.
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Manners are the ornament of action.
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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
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Self-control is only courage under another form. It may also be regarded as the primary essence of character.
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Conscience is that peculiar faculty of the soul which may be called the religious instinct.
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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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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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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.
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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. . . .
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Those who aren't making mistakes probably aren't making anything.
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Marriage like government is a series of compromises. One must give and take, repair and restrain, endure and be patient.
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Good character is property. It is the noblest of all possessions.
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The egotist is next door to a fanatic.
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Luck lies in bed, and wishes the postman would bring him news of a legacy labor turns out at six, and with busy pen or ringing hammer lays the foundation of a competence.
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Life is of little value unless it be consecrated by duty.
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Help from without is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates.
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He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.
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Enthusiasm..the sustaining power of all great action
Samuel Smiles