Great Throughts Treasury

"No man, perhaps, is so wicked as to commit evil for its own sake. Evil is generally committed under the hope of some advantage the pursuit of virtue seldom obtains. Yet the most successful result of the most virtuous heroism is never without its alloy."

"Temperance in everything is requisite for happiness."

"The great difficulty is first to win a reputation; the next to keep it while you live; and the next to preserve it after you die, when affection and interest are over, and nothing but sterling excellence can preserve your name."

"We are a compound of both here and hereafter; we shall be made responsible for the actions of both while here. Anything beyond this is beyond our power to prove, and would be of no real value if we could."

"Beware of the beginnings of vice. Do not delude yourself with the belief that it can be argued against in the presence of the exciting cause. Nothing but actual flight can save you."

"Do your duty, and don’t swerve from it. Do that which your conscience tells you to be right, and leave the consequences to God."

"Genius is nothing more than our common faculties refined to a greater intensity. There are no astonishing ways of doing astonishing things. All astonishing things are done by ordinary materials."

"If men would only take the chances of doing right because it is right, instead of the immediate certainly of the advantage of doing wrong, how much happier would their lives be."

"It is highly convenient to believe in the infinite mercy of God when you feel the need of mercy, but remember also His infinite justice."

"Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn."

"Never let your love for your profession overshadow your religious feeling. Depend on it that religion will strengthen, not weaken, your energies, and will not only make you a better sailor, but a superior man. Professional studies are not to be neglected; but, on the other hand, take care how you fall into the common error of believing they are the remedy for all the ills of life."

"The safest principle through life, instead of reforming others, is to set about perfecting yourself."