Samuel Smiles (1812 – 1904), was a Scottish author and government reformer who campaigned on a Chartist platform.

927. I’m as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me!

928. The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.

929. We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

930. Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them.

931. Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.

932. It is energy - the central element of which is will - that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.

899. The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.

900. Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.

901. Labour may be a burden and a chastisement, but it is also an honor and a glory. Without it, nothing can be accomplished.

902. Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

903. Hope… is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.

904. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.

824. The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

825. Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

826. The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.

827. The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

828. Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by traveling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.

829. Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.