J.P. Morgan, then past 70, was asked by the son of an eminent father why he [Morgan] didn't retire. When did your father retire? asked Mr. Morgan, without looking up from his desk. In 1902. When did he die? Oh, at the end of 1904. Huh! snapped Mr. Morgan, If he had kept on working he would have been alive still. Work is God's best medicine. It is God's medicine for man.

Use life to provide something that outlasts it.

Next to the dog, the wastebasket is your best friend.

Difficulties should act as a tonic. They should spur us to greater exertion.

When it comes to betting on yourself... you're a chicken-livered coward if you hesitate.

...the incontestable truth is that America has been built up by optimists, not by pessimists, but by men possessing courage, confidence in the nation's destiny, by men willing to adventure, to shoulder risks terrifying to the timid.

Life is just an endless chain of judgements. . . . The more imperfect our judgement, the less perfect our success.