The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.
- Samuel Smiles
Honor, Nothing, Fought, Cases
Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.
- Samuel Smiles
Time, Wealth, Study, Replaced
Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.
- Samuel Smiles
Nature, Practical, Learned, Precepts
Idleness of the mind is much worse than that of the body: wit, without employment, is a disease - the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself.
- Samuel Smiles
Mind, Wit, Disease, Employment
The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.
- Samuel Smiles
Over, Very, Established, Discoveries
Character is property. It is the noblest of possessions.
- Samuel Smiles
Character, Possessions, Noblest
The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning; whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom.
- Samuel Smiles
Nature, Actual, Though, Whereas
Simple honesty of purpose in a man goes a long way in life, if founded on a just estimate of himself and a steady obedience to the rule he knows and feels to be right.
- Samuel Smiles
Purpose, Goes, Feels, Estimate
Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the very nature of things be their own best helpers.
- Samuel Smiles
Nature, Well-Being, Very, Agents
An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.
- Samuel Smiles
Performing, Desires, Which, Possibility
Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
- Samuel Smiles
Hope, Behind, Which, Casts
The reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is attempted.
- Samuel Smiles
Reason, Why, Because, Attempted
The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.
- Samuel Smiles
Men, Difficulty, Which, Apprenticeship
It is energy - the central element of which is will - that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.
- Samuel Smiles
Will, Sustaining, Which, Element
Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a property entirely our own.
- Samuel Smiles
Own, Conquered, Possession, Entirely
Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.
- Samuel Smiles
Aspire, Cannot, Looked, Rise
The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.
- Samuel Smiles
Work, Tide, Been, Reached
Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes imitation of them in a greater or less degree.
- Samuel Smiles
Dead, Living, Degree, Imitation
It is idleness that is the curse of man - not labour. Idleness eats the heart out of men as of nations, and consumes them as rust does iron.
- Samuel Smiles
Heart, Nations, Them, Iron
Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.
- Samuel Smiles
Will, Always, Them, Resolved
The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.
- Samuel Smiles
Wise, Will, Would, Wise Man
Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.
- Samuel Smiles
Mother, Gift, Companion, Hopes
Labour may be a burden and a chastisement, but it is also an honour and a glory. Without it, nothing can be accomplished.
- Samuel Smiles
Nothing, May, Honour, Accomplished
The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.
- Samuel Smiles
Growth, Spirit, Individual, Root
Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.
- Samuel Smiles
Inevitable, Which, Ever, Valuable
It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.
- Samuel Smiles
Mistake, Study, Through, Suppose
Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.
- Samuel Smiles
Best, Kind, Satisfied, Step
Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.
- Samuel Smiles
Kind, Satisfied, However, Step
The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors.
- Samuel Smiles
Involves, Helping, Highest, Duty
We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
- Samuel Smiles
Mistake, Never, Discover, Finding
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
- Samuel Smiles
Mistake, Learn, Discover, Finding
Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.
- Samuel Smiles
Old, Individual, Travelling, Attention
The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.
- Samuel Smiles
Once, Things, One Thing, Shortest
Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action.
- Samuel Smiles
Enthusiasm, Sustaining, Action
Length of years is no proper test of length of life. A man's life is to be measured by what he does in it and what he feels in it.
- Samuel Smiles
Test, Measured, Feels, Length
Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.
- Samuel Smiles
Strength, Good, Give, Inspire
He who labours not, cannot enjoy the reward of labour.
- Samuel Smiles
Reward, Cannot, Labours, Labour
The best-regulated home is always that in which the discipline is the most perfect, and yet where it is the least felt. Moral discipline acts with the force of a law of nature.
- Samuel Smiles
Law, Always, Which, Discipline
Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.
- Samuel Smiles
Life, Always, Extent, Large
Work is one of the best educators of practical character.
- Samuel Smiles
Work, Best, Character, Practical
He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.
- Samuel Smiles
Discovery, Never, Made, Mistake
I'm as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me!
- Samuel Smiles
Happy, Me, World, Smile
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