Henry David Thoreau

A man thinks as well through his legs and arms as this brain.

The purity men love is like the mists which envelope the earth, and not like the azure ether beyond.

Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.

The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

Sobriety, severity, and self-respect are the foundations of all true sociality.

Having each some shingles of thought well dried, we sat and whittled them.

It might interest you to know that the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary identifies the optimist in complimentary terms, but says nothing about the pessimist. The word ‘pessimist’ was not in our vocabulary at that time. It’s a modern ‘invention’ which I believe we should ‘dis-invent.’

Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.

Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

I like to think of the word FOCUS as Follow One Course Until Successful.

Once you focus on your life’s objectives, you need to focus on your instructors to make sure they are qualified to teach you what you want to know. They should have already been where you want to go and have lived to tell about it.

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word: excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

The ability to manage well doesn’t make much difference if you’re not even in the right jungle.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Hope is the power that gives a person the confidence to step out and try.

You’re a fighter. Look at everything you’ve overcome. Don’t give up now.

Those who lose visualize the penalties of failure. Those who win visualize the rewards of success.

If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.

You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.