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Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.

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
Luck
Mother
Good
Diligence

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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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Necessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention and the most prolific school of all has been the school of difficulty.
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If character be irrecoverably lost, then indeed there will be nothing left worth saving.
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Courage is by no means incompatible with tenderness. On the contrary, gentleness and tenderness have been found to characterize the men, no less than the women, who have done the most courageous deeds.
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The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.
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Those who aren't making mistakes probably aren't making anything.
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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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Although genius always commands admiration, character most secures respect. The former is more the product of the brain, the latter of heart-power and in the long run it is the heart that rules in life.
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The egotist is next door to a fanatic.
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The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.
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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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Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.
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It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.
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The highest culture is not obtained from the teacher when at school or college, so much as by our ever diligent self-education when we become men.
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The greatest slave is not he who is ruled by a despot, great though that evil be, but he who is in the thrall of his own moral ignorance, selfishness, and vice.
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Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the very nature of things be their own best helpers.
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Politeness goes far, yet costs nothing.
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Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.
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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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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.
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