O. Henry Quotes

A man without ambition is worse than dough that has no yeast in it to raise it.

An Ambassadore is a man of virtue sent to lie abroad for his country, a news writer is a man of no virtue who lies at home for himself.

Mountains of gold would not seduce some men, yet flattery would break them down.

Good-nature is one of the richest fruits of true Christianity.

The whole action of the laws tended to increase the number of consumers of food and to diminish the number of producers, was due the invention of the Malthusian theory of population.

Pain is God's midwife, that helps some virtue into existence.

In architecture as in all other operative arts, the end must direct the operation. The end is to build well. Well building has three conditions: Commodity, Firmness and Delight.

Ignorance is the womb of monsters.

Ambassadors are honest men sent abroad to lie for their countries.

Well building hat three conditions. Commodity, firmness, and delight.

The woman and the soldier who do not defend the first pass will never defend the last.

A book is a garden; A book is an orchard; A book is a storehouse; A book is a party. It is company by the way; it is a counselor; it is a multitude of counselors.

You cannot sift out the poor from the community. The poor are indispensable to the rich.

A good face they say, is a letter of recommendation. O Nature, Nature, why art thou so dishonest, as ever to send men with these false recommendations into the World!

Our nation is uniquely endowed to play a creative and decisive role in the new order which is taking form around us.

Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.

I will not say it is not Christian to make beads of others faults, and tell them over every day; I say it is infernal. If you want to know how the Devil feels, you do know, if you are such an one.

The meanest, most contemptible kind of praise is that which first speaks well of a man, and then qualifies it with a But.

We begin to praise when we begin to see a thing needs our assistance.

The three-o'-clock in the morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest.

Where the most beautiful wild flowers grow, there mans spirit is fed and poets grow.

In the forming of female friendships beauty seldom recommends one woman to another.

It is well known to all great men, that by conferring an obligation they do not always procure a friend, but are certain of creating many enemies.

Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.

He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten its cause.

The God of the Bible is a moral monstrosity.

The blackest ink of fate are sure my lot, And when fate writ my name it made a blot.

Dignity and love were never yet boon companions.

As a conquered rebellion strengthens a government, or as health is more perfectly established by recovery from some diseases; so anger, when removed, often gives new life to affection.

Truth is always paradoxical.

The men who have had the most to give to their fellow men are those who have enriched their minds and hearts in solitude. It is a poor education that does not fit a man to be alone with himself.

Sincerity is a great but rare virtue, and we pardon to it much complaining, and the betrayal of many weaknesses.

If someone's trying to intimidate me, male or female, I don't respect them enough to be intimidated.

Age and youth look upon life from the opposite ends of the telescope; it is exceedingly long,--it is exceedingly short.

If we are to understand the interactions of a large number of agents, we must first be able to describe the capabilities of individual agents.

The highest order that was ever instituted on earth is the order of faith.

If there is to be a competition, there must be some basis for resolving it. It is also clear that the competition should be experienced based.

I fear that I have not got much to say about Canada, not having seen much; what I got by going to Canada was a cold.

If you know that God loves you, you should never question a directive from Him.

Riches are not an end of life, but an instrument of life.

If the Christian does not know when God is speaking, he is in trouble at the heart of his Christian life!

Energy is the inherent effort of every multiplicity to become unity.

Of all escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient.

Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.

Faith is illuminative, not operative; it does not force obedience, though it increases responsibility; it heightens guilt, but it does not prevent sin. The will is the source of action.

For parents to restrain the inclinations of their children in marriage is an usurped power.

How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?

The Christian needs to walk in peace, so no matter what happens they will be able to bear witness to a watching world.

The essence of sin is a shift from God centeredness to a self-centeredness. The essence of salvation is a denial of self, not an affirming of self.

If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory.