The world sees only the reflection of merit; therefore when you come to know a really great man intimately, you may as often find him above as below his reputation.

For I have been a man, and that means to have been a fighter.

When you are in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude. We don't get to know people when they come to us; we must go to them to find out what they are like.

What is the destiny of man, but to fill up the measure of his sufferings, and to drink his allotted cup of bitterness?

All of us have life; few of us have an idea of it.

As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.

He alone deserves liberty and life who daily must win them anew.