I regard philanthropy as a tragic apology for wrong conditions under which human beings live.

Your success and happiness lie in you.

The one resolution, which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is the key-note of my life. It is this, always to regard as mere impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life almost at the beginning. I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf my soul, but rather be made to blossom, like Aaron's rod, with flowers.

I am thankful that in a troubled world no calamity can prevent the return of spring.

I trust, and I recognize the beneficence of the power which we all worship as supreme- Order, Fate, the Great Spirit, Nature, God. I recognize this power in the sun that makes all things grow and keeps life afoot. I make a friend of this indefinable force…this is my religion of optimism.

What induces a child to learn but his delight in knowing?

Happiness does not come from without, it comes from within