O. Henry Quotes

In many ways, America is on the receiving end of a pendulum that has been swung with great force, and for a long time, outward into the world. The impact is a wake-up call on every level.

I never knew that ["Hank Zipzer"] would happen in my life. It is one of the greatest things. It is like a gift from God.

The hardest thing in the world to do is to think, and that is why people do so little of it.

If I had to perform in a comedy club I would bomb; I would be trying too hard.

First doubt, then inquire, then discover. This has been the process with all our great thinkers.

There are no dead ends. There is always a way out. What you learn in one failure you utilize in your next success.

Death is the dropping of the flower, that the fruit may swell.

Profit is a by-product of work; happiness is its chief product.

Nowhere does Jesus hear our prayers more readily than in the Blessed Sacrament

Independence is not an option for us. Remember, God existed without us.

If you think you can or cannot accomplish a task, you will be correct in either case.

When I see an Alfa Romeo go by, I tip my hat.

I'd rather work on my radio show, which no one hears but I put about eight hours of programming and writing into it for those 30 people who do tune in.

Thinking without constructive action becomes a disease.

Would food be considered an instrument of national power? ... Is the U.S. prepared to accept food rationing to help people who can't/won't control their population growth?

Those who run to long words are mainly the unskillful and tasteless; they confuse pomposity with dignity, flaccidity with ease, and bulk with force.

He who believes he can and he who believes he cannot are both correct.

Donald Rumsfeld is the most ruthless man I have ever met? and I mean that as a compliment.

Be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.

Life, as I see it, is not a location, but a journey. Life flows.

The object of living is work, experience, happiness.

Our liberty cannot be taken away unless the people are themselves accomplices.

In crises the most daring course is often safest.

The God of Israel is sometimes a God who hides Himself, but never a God who absents Himself; sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance.

Everlasting life is a jewel of too great a value to be purchased by the wealth of this world.

Love is the root; obedience is the fruit.

It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice.

A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.

You learn from your mistakes.

I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say definitely what is and what is not possible.

Hope is the last thing a person does before they are defeated.

I think about the meaning of pain. Pain is personal. It really belongs to the one feeling it. Probably the only thing that is your own. I like mine.

'Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.

I have received no more than one or two letters in my life that were worth the postage.

Our best successes often come after our greatest disappointments.

How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.

Theology is a science of mind applied to God.

The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.

All things must change to something new, to something strange.

Who says Australia offers not a home for every poor Englishman, or any other countryman that finds his way to our shores? And what sort of thanks do we get for it?

The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin.

Thought takes man out of servitude, into freedom.

Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything.

Words are loneliness.

Who a person is will ultimately determine if their brains, talents, competencies, energy, effort, deal-making abilities, and opportunities will succeed.

All things come round to him who will but wait.

We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power... the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

Every human heart is human.

A man who pretends to understand women is bad manners. For him to really to understand them is bad morals.