All Quotes by Elbert Hubbard
“Most Authors cringe and flatter and Fish for compliments. If they fail to get Applause, they say the World is a Scurvy Place and those who dwell therein a Dirty Lot: if they succeed, they give thanks to Nobody, saying they got only what their Meritt entitles them to. But I rather like the World. The Flesh is pleasing and the Devil does not trouble me.”
“Every man should have a college education in order to show him how little the thing is really worth. The intellectual kings of the earth have seldom been college-bred.”
“There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability. The sternest comment that can be made against employers as a class lies in the fact that men of Ability usually succeed in showing their worth in spite of their employer, and not with his assistance and encouragement.”
“Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyhow.”
“Life is just one damn thing after another.”
“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.”
“It is not to be wondered that men have worshiped the ocean, for in his depths they have seen mirrored the image of Eternity — of Infinity. Here they have seen the symbol of God's great plan of oneness with His creatures, for the sea is the union of all infinite particles, and it takes the whole to make the one.”
“Anyone who idolizes you is going to hate you when he discovers that you are fallible. He never forgives. He has deceived himself, and he blames you for it.”
“Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticized.”
“Responsibilities gravitate to the person who can shoulder them.”
“He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand.”
“If you want work well done, select a busy man ‚\xa0the other kind has no time.”
“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”
“Some one has said that we are moving so fast that when plans are being made to perform some great feat, these plans are broken into by a youth who enters and says, "I have done it."”
“Philosophy rests on a proposition that whatever is is right. Preaching begins by assuming that whatever is is wrong.”
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
“The graveyards are full of people the world could not do without.”
“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”
“Piety is the tinfoil of pretense.”
“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.”
“If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all?”
“Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.”
“Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village — in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed and needed badly — the man who can "Carry a Message to Garcia."”
“Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.”
“Art is not a thing; it is a way.”
“I believe that brutality tends to defeat itself. Prizefighters die young, gourmands get the gout, hate hurts worse the man who nurses it, and all selfishness robs the mind of its divine insight, and cheats the soul that would know. Mind alone is eternal. He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps. My faith is great: out of the transient darkness of the present the shadows will flee away, and Day will yet dawn. I am an Anarchist.”
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one.”
“Life in abundance comes only through great love.”
“It takes brains to make money, but any dam fool can inherit. P.S.: I never inherited any money.”
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
“The happiest mortals on earth are ladies who have been bereaved by the loss of their husbands.”
“The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.”
“The sad thing about the optimist is his state of mind concerning himself.”
“Responsibility is the price of freedom.”
“If men could only know each other, they would never either idolize or hate.”
“Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.”
“Too often the reformer has been one who caused the rich to band themselves against the poor.”
“We are not punished for our sins, but by them.”
“And the worst part about making a soldier of a man is not that a soldier kills brown men or white men, but that the soldier loses his own soul.”
“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.”
“Good people are only half as good, and bad people only half as bad, as other people regard them.”
“We work to become, not to acquire.”
“If we ever damned it will not be because we have loved too much, but because we have loved too little.”
“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
“Every spirit makes his own house, but as afterwards the house confines its spirit, you had better build well.”
“If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.”
“"Should we have an Eleventh Commandment?" asked a youth of the Greatest Living Actress. "Most assuredly, no - we have ten too many now!" answered the divine Sara.”
“He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.”
“Knowledge is the distilled essence of our intuitions, corroborated by experience.”
“It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.”
“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.”
“I believe more in the goodness of bad people than i do in the badness of good people.”
“In order to have friends, you must first be one.”
“A Miracle: An event described by those to whom it was told by men who did not see it.”
“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”
“Fear clogs; faith liberates.”
“Life is a compromise between fate and free will.”
“A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.”
“It is the weak man who urges compromise—never the strong man.”
“A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman as bad as she dares.”
“Do not take life too seriously – you will never get out of it alive.”
“Life is just one damned thing after another.”
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
“I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.”
“Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes.”
“A conservative is a man who is too cowardly to fight and too fat to run.”
“Wealth: A cunning device of Fate whereby men are made captive, and burdened with responsibilites from which only Death can file their fetters.”
“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.”
“A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience.”
“The love we give away is the only love we keep.”
“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher.”
“An idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.”
“The thing we fear we bring to pass.”
“If your religion does not change you, then you had better change your religion.”
“It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.”
“Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.”
“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes a day. Wisdom consists of not exceeding the limit.”
“Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.”
“If you err it is not for me to punish you. We are punished by our sins not for them.”
“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.”
“Fear clogs; faith liberates.”
“It is only life and love that give love and life.”
“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.”
“Young women with ambitions should be very crafty and cautious, lest mayhap they be caught in the soft, silken mesh of a happy marriage, and go down to oblivion, dead to the world.”
“There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.”
“The great Big Black Things that have loomed against the horizon of my life, threatening to devour me, simply loomed and nothing more. The things that have really made me miss my train have always been sweet, soft, pretty, pleasant things of which I was not in the least afraid.”
“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.”
“To supply a thought is mental massage; but to evolve a thought of your own is an achievement. Thinking is a brain exercise — and no faculty grows save as it is exercised.”
“Initiative is doing the right things without being told.”
“Do not go out of your way to do good whenever it comes your way. Men who make a business of doing good to others are apt to hate others in the same occupation. Simply be filled with the thought of good, and it will radiate — you do not have to bother about it, any more than you need trouble about your digestion.”
“A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.”
“Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.”
“Positive anything is better than negative nothing.”
“The newspapers print what the people want, and thus does the savage still swing his club and flourish his spear.”
“God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars.”
“I am not sure just what the unpardonable sin is, but I believe it is a disposition to evade the payment of small bills.”
“Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed - there's so little competition.”
“Do not dump your woes upon people — keep the sad story of your life to yourself. Troubles grow by recounting them.”
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one.”
“Men who marry for gratification, propagation or the matter of buttons or socks, must expect to cope with and deal in a certain amount of quibble, subterfuge, concealments, and double, deep-dyed prevarication.”
“Life in abundance comes only through great love.”
“The love we give away is the only love we keep.”
“When you see a tomcat with his whiskers full of feathers, do not say "Canary!" — he'll take offense.”
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
“Academic education is the act of memorizing things read in books, and things told by college professors who got their education mostly by memorizing things read in books.”
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.”
“Literature is the noblest of all the arts. Music dies on the air, or at best exists only as a memory; oratory ceases with the effort; the painter's colors fade and the canvas rots; the marble is dragged from its pedestal and is broken into fragments.”
“The supernatural is the natural not yet understood.”
“Love, we say, is life; but love without hope and faith is agonizing death.”
“A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.”
“Art is not a thing; it is a way.”
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
“Life without absorbing occupation is hell — joy consists in forgetting life.”
“We are punished by our sins, not for them.”
“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.”
“Making men live in three worlds at once — past, present and future has been the chief harm organized religion has done.”
“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.”
“Our admiration is so given to dead martyrs that we have little time for living heroes.”
“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.”
“Perfume; Any smell that is used to drown a worse one.”
“Love, we say, is life; but love without hope and faith is agonizing death.”
“Respectability is the dickey on the bosom of civilization.”
“The only foes that threaten America are the enemies at home, and these are ignorance, superstition and incompetence.”
“There is no such thing as success in a bad business.”
“We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.”
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
“If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.”
“Fear clogs; faith liberates.”
“The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.”
“It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.”
“The way to learn to earn a living is to go at it and earn a living.”
“This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do for chewing gum.”
“To remain on earth you must be useful, otherwise Nature regards you as old metal, and is only watching for a chance to melt you over.”
“A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.”
“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.”
“Why not be a top-notcher? A top-notcher is simply an individual who works for the institution of which he is a part, not against it.”
“If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble.”
“Woman's inaptitude for reasoning has not prevented her from arriving at truth; nor has man's ability to reason prevented him from floundering in absurdity.”
“The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner.”
“Live truth instead of professing it.”
“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.”
“Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority.”
“Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant - the digitalis of failure.”
“Die, v.: To stop sinning suddenly.”
“It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious.”
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one.”
“So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs.”
“Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it.”
“Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.”
“The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.”
“Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.”
“Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.”
“Never get married in college; it's hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you've already made one mistake.”
“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.”
“Polygamy: An endeavour to get more out of life than there is in it.”
“A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience.”
“Men are only as great as they are kind.”
“A pessimist? That's a person who has been intimately acquainted with an optimist.”
“Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom for himself.”
“The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work.”
“The man who has no problems is out of the game.”
“Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true.”
“No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day.”
“An idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.”
“Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant - the digitalis of failure.”
“The man who knows it can't be done counts the risk, not the reward.”
“Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.”
“A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.”
“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.”
“The reason men oppose progress is not that they hate progress, but that they love inertia.”
“Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed - there's so little competition.”
“Our desires always disappoint us; for though we meet with something that gives us satisfaction, yet it never thoroughly answers our expectation.”
“If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.”
“The idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.”
“The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.”
“The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.”
“A woman will doubt everything you say except it be compliments to herself.”
“Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things.”
“We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.”
“The church saves sinners, but science seeks to stop their manufacture.”
“Christianity supplies a Hell for the people who disagree with you and a Heaven for your friends.”
“Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.”
“Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us.”
“The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.”
“A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience.”
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
“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.”
“God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars.”
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
“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.”
“Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.”
“The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.”
“Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.”
“Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.”
“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.”
“Responsibility is the price of freedom.”
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”
“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”
“The reason men oppose progress is not that they hate progress, but that they love inertia.”
“A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman as bad as she dares.”
“It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.”
“Never get married in college; it's hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you've already made one mistake.”
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
“Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed - there's so little competition.”
“Love, we say, is life; but love without hope and faith is agonizing death.”
“Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.”
“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.”
“The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.”
“Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom for himself.”
“I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love...I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts.”
“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.”
“God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars.”
“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 sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination.”