I find nothing so singular in life as this: that everything opposing appears to lose its substance the moment one actually grapples with it.—Hawthorne.

Perpetual pushing and assurance put a difficulty out of countenance, and make a seeming impossibility give way.—Jeremy Collier.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.—Napoleon I.

He wants wit, that wants resolved will.—Shakespeare.

When a firm decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom.—John Foster.

Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures. In the assurance of strength there is strength, and they are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers.—Bovee.

Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control—these three alone lead life to sovereign power.—Tennyson.

There is no fate! Between the thought and the success, God is the only agent.—Bulwer.

Character must stand behind and back up everything—the sermon, the poem, the picture, the play. None of them is worth a straw without it.—J. G. Holland.

I hate a thing done by halves. If it be right, do it boldly; if it be wrong, leave it undone.—Gilpin.

Doing well depends upon doing completely.—Persian Proverb.

Things don’t turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.—Garfield.

We live in a new and exceptional age. America is another name for Opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of the Divine Providence in behalf of the human race.—Emerson.