This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Confidence, as opposed, to modesty and distinguished from decent assurance, proceeds from self-opinion, and is occasioned by ignorance and flattery
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
Brooks Atkinson, fully Justin Brooks Atkinson
“God” is a convenient way of expressing our wonder in the vast splendor of the universe, and our humility over the modesty of man’s achievements.
Lord Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring, perseverance in exercise, adaptation of dress to the variations of climate, simple and nutritious aliment, and temperance in all things are necessary branches of the regimen of health.
Lydia Sigourney, fully Lydia Huntley Sigourney, née Lydia Howard Huntley
Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring, perseverance in exercise, adaptation of dress to the variations of climate, simple and nutritious aliment, and temperance in all things are necessary branches of the regimen of health.
Mark Twain, pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens
The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit.
Marie Curie, fully Marie Skłodowska-Curie, originally Manya Sklodowska
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.
Meher Baba, born Merwan Sheriar Irani
Better the absence of greatness than the establishing of a false greatness by assumed humility. Not only do these efforts at humility on man's part not express strength, they are, on the contrary, expressions of modesty born of weakness, which springs from a lack of knowledge of the truth of Reality. Beware of modesty. Modesty, under the cloak of humility, invariably leads one into the clutches of self-deception. Modesty breeds egoism, and man eventually succumbs to pride through assumed humility. The greatest greatness and the greatest humility go hand in hand naturally and without effort.
Absence | Greatness | Humility | Knowledge | Man | Modesty | Pride | Truth |
Meher Baba, born Merwan Sheriar Irani
Strength begets humility, whereas modesty bespeaks weakness. Only he who is truly great can be really humble.
Modesty |
Meher Baba, born Merwan Sheriar Irani
Be pure and simple, and love all because all are one. Live a sincere life; be natural, and be honest with yourself. Honesty will guard you against false modesty and will give you the strength of true humility. Spare no pains to help others. Seek no other reward than the gift of Divine Love.
True modesty is the source of all virtues.
Modesty |
Fearless gentleness is the most beautiful of feminine attractions born of modesty and love.
Gentleness | Modesty |
Muriel Spark, fully Dame Muriel Sarah Camberg Spark
Final perseverance is the doctrine that wins the eternal victory in small things as in great.
Doctrine | Eternal | Perseverance |
There must be a sequence to learning, that perseverance and a certain measure of perspiration are indispensable, that individual pleasures must frequently be submerged in the interests of group cohesion, and that learning to be critical and to think conceptually and rigorously do not come easily to the young but are hard-fought victories.
Individual | Learning | Perseverance | Think |
Nicolas Chamfort,fully Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort, also spelled Nicholas
There is a kind of harmful modesty which … sometimes affects men of superior character to their detriment by keeping them in a state of mediocrity. I am reminded of the remark that a certain gentleman of acknowledged eminence once made at luncheon to some persons of the Court, How bitterly I regret the time I wasted merely to learn how superior I am to all of you!
Deep down within the heart there is a stillness which is healing, a trust in the universal laws which is unwavering, and a strength which is rock-like. But because it is so deep we need both patience and perseverance when digging for it.
Haven't you learned anything, not even with the approach of death? Stop thinking all the time that you're in the way, that you're bothering the person next to you. If people don't like it, they can complain. And if they don't have the courage to complain, that's their problem… Having the courage to take the steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing that we trust in God… He has done things that caused me to doubt His wisdom, but never His existence… He knows that perseverance is not the same thing as insistence… We can see the Divine in each speck of dust, but that doesn't stop us from wiping it away with a wet sponge. The Divine doesn't disappear; it's transformed into the clean surface.
Courage | Doubt | People | Perseverance | Thinking | Time | Trust |