Some are satisfied to stand politely before the portals of Fortune and to await her bidding; better those who push forward, who employ their enterprise, who on the wings of their worth and valor seek to embrace luck, and to effectively gain her favor.

One should cultivate good habits of memory, for it is capable of making existence a Paradise or an Inferno.

You should aim to be independent of any one vote, of any one fashion, of any one century.

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

Chance has something to say, even how to write a good letter.

Success rarely brings satisfaction.

Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external percepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority.