Deserve a great deal, and you shall have a great deal; deserve little, and you shall have but a little; and be good for nothing atall, and I assure you, you shall have nothing at all.

As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless.

The mere brute pleasure of reading - the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

You must look into people, as well as at them.

A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

If you see something working for someone else, and you are in the same business, more than likely it will work for you.

In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.

If you fight you might lose, if you don't you have already lost.

It's impossible to get to the end if you quit in the middle.

It’s quite a discipline when we’re in trouble to think of God and say, “I need some help.”

Don't look back! For a bright future is ahead of you.

I can't imagine love without a sexual charge.

I've been influenced heavily by great soul artists. I see myself as a soul singer. I sing from my soul - I write from my soul.

Finding inner success is the best, easiest and infact the only way to achieve and enjoy everything else in life.

[S]ince brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.