Creative Valor

It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

Insist on yourself; never imitate. … Every great man is … unique. … Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Do not go where the path may lead[;] go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

[A] friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

To laugh often and love much: To win respect of intelligent people And the affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest critics And endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To give one's self; To leave the world a little better, Whether by a healthy child, A garden patch, Or redeemed social condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm And sung with exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier Because you have lived … This is to have succeeded.

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. … But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.