Poverty in youth, when it succeeds, has this magnificent property about it, that it turns the whole will towards effort, and the whole soul towards aspiration.
fromLes MisérablesbyVictor HugoIf nature calls itself Providence, society should call itself foresight.
fromLes MisérablesbyVictor HugoI will try and be what he loves to call me—a little woman—and not be rough and wild, but do my duty here, where I am, as well as I can, because I see now that courage isn’t only for soldiers, and battles are fought in kitchens and sickrooms and hearts, where no drum is heard, and no flag is flying.
fromLittle WomenbyLouisa May AlcottThat’s just why—because talent isn’t genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.
fromLittle WomenbyLouisa May AlcottI am angry nearly every day of my life, Jo, but I have learned not to show it, and I still hope to learn not to feel it…
fromLittle WomenbyLouisa May AlcottWe learn from failure, not from success; and our failures have taught us to believe the strange evidence of our eyes, and to act together without delay. We have been blind, but now we must keep notes, keep watch, and keep faith, for there are no little things in great affairs.
fromDraculabyBram StokerI sometimes think we must be mad that we do not flee from this house; but we are men, and must do our duty though it be a dreadful one. We are all drifting in strange seas, and the lights we trust are faint and far; yet, if we hold together and keep our heads clear, the dawn will find us.
fromDraculabyBram StokerFor all evils there are two remedies: time and silence.
fromThe Count of Monte CristobyAlexandre DumasI am not proud; I am simply a man who has suffered, and who has resolved that others shall suffer in their turn.
fromThe Count of Monte CristobyAlexandre DumasMen are not to be judged by the face they show in society, but by the face they show to misfortune.
fromThe Count of Monte CristobyAlexandre Dumas