The quote database

In my opinion no man has had a more profitable difficulty than you have had, if you choose to make use of it as an athlete would deal with a young antagonist.

Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man.

It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are.

Keep by every means what is your own; do not desire what belongs to others.

If I have set my admiration on the poor body, I have given myself up to be a slave; if on my poor possessions, I also make myself a slave.

Will you not go back, and you will see clearer when you have laid aside fear?

Do not admire your clothes, and then you will not be angry with the thief.

See that you do nothing like a sheep; but if you do, in this case also the man is lost.

Have you anything better or greater to see than the sun, the moon, the stars, the whole earth, the sea?

If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault; for God has made all men to be happy, to be free from perturbations.

Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life

Does it seem to you so small and worthless a thing to be good and happy?

Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things

I am by Nature made for my own good; not for my own evil.

No man can rob us of our Will--no man can lord it over that!

If you have assumed a character beyond your strength, you have both played a poor figure in that, and neglected one that is within your powers.

When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful.

Human effort is not futile, but man fights against the giant forces of Nature in a spirit of humility.

To admit failure at this stage was hard, but the facts had to be faced.

At any rate, we were on the move at last, and if dangers and difficulties lay ahead we could meet and overcome them.

The task now was to secure the safety of the party, and to that I must bend my energies and mental power and apply every bit of knowledge that experience of the Antarctic had given me.

A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground.

The task was likely to be long and strenuous, and an ordered mind and a clear programme were essential if we were to come through without loss of life.

The demons of depression could find no foothold when he was around

The movement of the floes was beyond all human control, and there was nothing to be gained by allowing one's mind to struggle with the problems of the future, though it was hard to avoid anxiety at times.