26
Genius unexecuted is no more genius than a bushel of acorns is a forest of oaks.
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Feeling
Attribution
27
A hopeless feeling descends on one and is hard to fight off.
28
The time of such a man is always spent in forming schemes, which a change of wind hinders him from executing, his powers fume away in projects and in hope, and the day of action never arrives.
Samuel Johnsonverified·The Rambler No. 48, in The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 2·September 1, 1750
29
Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.
30
Nothing can be more certain than that the character can only be sustained and strengthened by its own energetic action.
31
Life must needs be disgusting alike to the idle rich man as to the idle poor man, who has no work to do, or, having work, will not do it.
32
There is a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener's Valley, Virginia, which sums up one's duty in life: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.
Wrongly attributed
Roosevelt did not coin this. He quotes it in his Autobiography and names its author: Squire Bill Widener of Widener's Valley, Virginia, a neighbour with no other claim on posterity. It is now printed on posters and mugs as Roosevelt's own, usually shortened to Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. The sentence around it is the evidence that it was never his.
33
If we would put some slight stress on ourselves at the beginning, then afterwards we should be able to do all things with ease and joy.
34
One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go any where, or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop until the thing intended was accomplished.
35
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
36
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.
37
Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone.
38
Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life.
39
The normal opener of deeper and deeper levels of energy is the will.
40
We are all to some degree oppressed, unfree. We don't come to our own. It is there, but we don't get at it. The threshold must be made to shift.
41
Most of us continue living unnecessarily near our surface.
42
Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.
43
Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.
44
Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.