We share something in common with the fabric of the whole universe that connects us.
There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for all of us; and surely it is a good haven to sail for.
Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.
A river is the most human and companionable of all inanimate things. It has a life, a character, a voice of its own; and it is as full of good fellowship as a sugar maple is of sap. It can talk in various tones, loud or low, and of many subjects grave and gay. . . . For real company and friendship there is nothing, outside of the animal kingdom, that is comparable to a river.
We're all slight hypocrites who fall short of our ideals.
If the focus of our testimony is our changed life, we as well as our hearers are bound to be disappointed.
The water which rises in the mountain is the blood which keeps the mountain in life.
Nothing would please me more, but who else would pump the oil that we need? God damn America.