ELBERT HUBBARD QUOTES

Elbert Hubbard (Born June 19, 1856 – Died May 7, 1915 aboard the Lusitania) was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. He is responsible for some of my favourite quotes – check some out…

“Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp. Do not fear being misunderstood and do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. Keep your mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the days go gliding away, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire….. Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual….. Thought is supreme. Preserve a right mental attitude – the attitude of courage, frankness, and good cheer. To think rightly is to create. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed. Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high…”

"A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience."

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same."

"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success."

"A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman as bad as she dares."

"A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them."

"A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness."

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy to be called an idea at all."

"An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness."

"Art is not a thing; it is a way."

"Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things."

"Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself."

"Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time."

"Die: Verb: To stop sinning suddenly."

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."

"Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed - there's so little competition."

"Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed."

"Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber."

"Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit."

"Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom for himself."

"Fear clogs; faith liberates."

"Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority."

"Folks who never do any more than they are paid for, never get paid more than they do."

"Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used."

"Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."

"Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is."

"God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars."

"He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much."

"He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words."

"How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success?"

"I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate."

"If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate."

"If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble."

"If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names."

"If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive."

"In order to have friends, you must first be one."

"Initiative is doing the right things without being told."

"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do."

"It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get."

"It may happen sometimes that a long debate becomes the cause of a longer friendship. Commonly, those who dispute with one another at last agree."

"It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious."

"Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal."

"Life in abundance comes only through great love."

"Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace."

"Live truth instead of professing it."

"Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away."

"Love, we say, is life; but love without hope and faith is agonizing death."

"Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street."

"Men are only as great as they are kind."

"Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."

"No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one."

"No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day."

"Often we can help each other most by leaving each other alone; at other times we need the hand-grasp and the word of cheer."

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."

"Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant - the digitalis of failure."

"Our desires always disappoint us; for though we meet with something that gives us satisfaction, yet it never thoroughly answers our expectation."

"Polygamy: An endeavour to get more out of life than there is in it."

"Positive anything is better than negative nothing."

"Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it."

"Responsibility is the price of freedom."

"Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness."

"Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us."

"So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs."

"The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today."

"The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment."

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one."

"The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it."

"The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work."

"The idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all."

"The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods."

"The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it: so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it."

"The love we give away is the only love we keep."

"The man who has no problems is out of the game."

"The man who knows it can't be done counts the risk, not the reward."

"The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher."

"The reason men oppose progress is not that they hate progress, but that they love inertia."

"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge."

"The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination."

"The supernatural is the natural not yet understood."

"The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner."

"The thing we fear we bring to pass."

"The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it."

"There is no failure except in no longer trying."

"There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability."

"This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do for chewing gum."

"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."

"We are not punished for our sins, but by them."

"We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them."

"We work to become, not to acquire."

"Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true."