A man's character is the reality of himself; his reputation, the opinion others have formed about him; character resides in him, reputation in other people; that is the substance, this is the shadow.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.

The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.

Some men are like pyramids, which are very broad where they touch the ground, but grow narrow as they reach the sky.

As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.

The thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

To rid oneself of the past is to forgo the future...

I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.

You can't avoid orphan stories, child. Every story is an orphan story. We are all orphaned sooner or later.

There are the goods; if you want them, you can have them. If you do not want them, they would almost rather that you did not come and talk about them.

I ain't heard anyone play like I do in my band and I am very happy about that.

Do not worry about what others are doing! Each of us should turn the searchlight inward and purify his or her own heart as much as possible.

It is a well-known fact that we see the faults in other's works more readily than we do in our own.

I started skating because I loved it. I started when I was three and I didn't know all the sacrifices and all the hardships and how difficult day-in and day-out it would be.

Certain countries are dumping nuclear waste directly into the ocean, making fish flesh even more poisonous.

What you do as president has consequences.