Words of Wisdom Quotes

"Misfortunes one can endure--they come from outside, they are accidents. But to suffer for one's own faults--ah!--there is the sting of life." ~ Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men. ~ Zuleika Dobson by Sir Max Beerbohm "Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news hath but a losing office, and his tongue sounds ever after as a sullen bell, rememb'red tolling a departing friend." ~ Henry IV, Part Two by William Shakespeare "No one is useless in this world," retorted the Secretary, "who lightens the burden of it for any one else." ~ Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens 'Tis misfortune that awakens ingenuity, or fortitude, or endurance, in hearts where these qualities had never come to life but for the circumstance which gave them a being. ~ The History of Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray "'Tis not the dying for a faith that's so hard, Master Harry--every man of every nation has done that--'tis the living up to it that is difficult." ~ The History of Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray Unwelcome truths are not popular. ~ The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness." ~ The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "All a man can betray is his conscience." ~ Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad "And, above all things, never think that you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you very much at your own reckoning." ~ The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope