This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
To look upon the soul as going on from strength to strength, to consider that she is to shine forever with new accessions of glory, and brighten to all eternity; that she will be still adding virtue to virtue, and knowledge to knowledge, carries in it something wonderfully agreeable to that ambition which is natural to the mind of man.
Ambition | Eternity | Glory | Knowledge | Man | Mind | Soul | Strength | Virtue | Virtue | Will | Ambition |
Lord Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Prepare yourself for the world, as the athletes used to do for their exercises; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone will not do.
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.
Despair | Kindness | Resolution | Strength | Tenderness | Weakness |
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
Leonardo da Vinci, fully Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.
Josh Billings, pen name for Henry Wheeler Shaw, aka Uncle Esek
There is no limit to the vanity of this world. Each spoke in the wheel thinks the whole strength of the wheel depends upon it.
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
Everything morally right derives from one of four sources: it concerns either full perception or intelligent development of what is true; or the preservation of organized society, where every man is rendered his due and all his obligations are faithfully discharged; or the greatness and strength of a noble, invincible spirit; or order and moderation in everything said and done, whereby there is temperance and self-control.
Control | Greatness | Man | Moderation | Order | Perception | Right | Self | Self-control | Society | Spirit | Strength | Moderation |
Mencius, born Meng Ke or Ko NULL
Some labor with their minds and some labor with their strength. Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed by others. Those who are governed by others support them; those who govern them are supported by them. This is a universal principal.
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson
The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.
Education | Intelligence | Necessity | Strength | Tenderness |
Max Lerner, fully Maxwell "Max" Alan Lerner, aka Mikhail Lerner
The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.
Strength |
Man's great guilt does not lie in the sins he commits, for temptation is great and his strength is limited. Man's great guilt lies in the fact that he can turn away from evil at any moment, and yet he does not.
Evil | Guilt | Man | Strength | Temptation | Temptation |
Neil Armstrong, fully Neil Alden Armstrong
Man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny. Mystery, however, is a very necessary ingredient in our lives. Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis for man’s desire to understand. Who knows what mysteries will be solved in our lifetime, and what new riddles will become the challenge of the new generations? Science has not mastered prophesy. We predict too much for next year yet far too little for the next ten. Responding to challenge is one of democracy’s great strengths. Our successes in space lead us to hope that this strength can be used in the next decade in the solution of many of our planet’s problems.
Challenge | Democracy | Desire | Destiny | Hope | Little | Man | Mystery | Order | Problems | Science | Space | Strength | Universe | Will | Wonder | Understand |
If each of us can believe that he is working so that the Universe may be raised, in him and through him, to a higher level, then a new spring of energy will well forth in the heart of Earth's workers. The whole organism, overcoming a momentary hesitation, will draw its breath and press on with strength renewed.
To grow and know what one is growing towards - that is the source of all strength and confidence in life.
Confidence | Life | Life | Strength |
Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every upspringing plant of duty.
Consideration | Duty | Strength | Wisdom |