Charles Dickens

Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

I must be taken as I have been made. The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me.

Grief never mended no broken bones.

Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers, and are famous preservers of good looks.

Family not only need to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we’d give blood.

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.

When we are through, we shall have reproduced American life as lived; and that, I think is the best way of preserving at least a part of our history and tradition.

I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.

No matter how carefully and assiduously and how deeply you bury shit, the American public will find it and buy it in large quantity, It’s true, absolutely true.

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.

If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.

She woke up every morning with the option of being anyone she wished. How beautiful it was that she always chose herself.

I don’t believe in geniuses, I believe in hard work.

With all the wealth of the world at hand, there are human beings who hunger, whole nations who suffer cold. The judgment for this condition, for misusing Nature’s gifts, is the judgment upon man’s failure, man’s unsteadiness. Leadership is the thing.

Hard knocks have a place and value, but hard thinking goes farther in less time.

There is an interconnectedness among members that bonds the family, much like mountain climbers who rope themselves together when climbing a mountain, so that if someone should slip or need support, he’s held up by the others until he regains his footing.

It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate.

We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that a savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter.

It is just like man’s vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.

We each own one car, and we have a reasonable house. It’s a lovely place to be, but it’s not extravagant.