283 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
Samuel Smiles held that character outlasts genius in the long run, because the heart rules in life more than the brain does.
Samuel Smiles held that you can judge a person's character by how they treat those closest to them and how they handle ordinary daily duties.
Samuel Smiles held that learning must be allied to goodness, because a clever person can still lack honesty and a sense of duty.
Samuel Smiles held that character is a kind of property, an estate of goodwill and respect that pays off for those who invest in it.
Samuel Smiles held that a steady purpose, built on sound principles, holds a person straight, and that without principles a person drifts like a ship without a rudder.
Epictetus taught that a person with firm principles and few wants is richer than one who depends on status and possessions.
Samuel Smiles held that truthfulness is the foundation of personal excellence, because people trust someone who does what they say.
Samuel Smiles observed that people of pure and noble aims exert quiet influence beyond their intellect, and that true character cannot be hidden for long.
Samuel Smiles held that character is formed by small everyday choices, so a person should never give way to what seems little.
Samuel Smiles held that good character needs constant self-watchfulness and self-control, and that aiming higher improves us even when we fall short.
Samuel Smiles described character as conduct guided by principle and practical wisdom, which chooses its way carefully and keeps to it, even when that is unpopular.
Samuel Smiles held that energy without integrity can be destructive, while energy governed by duty is just, honest and generous even to opponents.
Samuel Smiles held that the man of character puts his conscience into his work, his words and every action.
Samuel Smiles held that reverence for high aims and good people is essential to trust, faith and social progress, because it binds people together.
Samuel Smiles held that energy of will, a self-originating force, is the soul of great character, and that a strong person carves a path and carries others with them.
Samuel Smiles quotes Gladstone on Palmerston, whose force of will and sense of duty kept the weight of age at bay, and whose freedom from anger came naturally rather than through effort.
Samuel Smiles held that a leader of courtesy, courage and disinterestedness draws out the admiration and best effort of the people who follow them.
Samuel Smiles held that a person of upright character in a position of trust lifts up everyone who serves under them, and they feel their own power grow.
Samuel Smiles held that the thoughts and acts of great people outlive them and help shape the character of later generations, like lights set on a hill.
Samuel Smiles held that a great thinker's ideas can outlive them by centuries, slowly working their way into everyday life and practice.
Samuel Smiles held that a leader's greatness lies more in honour, integrity, truthfulness and a sense of duty than in intellect or skill.
In Samuel Smiles's account, Walter Scott judged a nation's character by its ordinary working people rather than its fine folk, since they form the real backbone of a country.
Samuel Smiles held that a nation's character rests on the moral qualities of its ordinary people, because a corrupt people will in the end be ruled by rogues.
Samuel Smiles held that personal character is the real safeguard of liberty, since political rights alone will not lift a people whose individuals are debased.
Samuel Smiles held that a nation's character is built through trial and suffering nobly borne, and that noisy nationalism is no substitute for honest work.
Samuel Smiles recounts Colbert telling Louis XIV that a country's greatness depends on the character of its people, not the size of its territory.
Samuel Smiles held that the stability of institutions depends on the integrity of individual character, and that a people living only for pleasure is doomed.
Samuel Smiles held that the home is the first and most important school of character, where the habits and principles that last a lifetime are formed.
Samuel Smiles held that a child's first great instructor is example, since children learn by imitation almost without effort, long before any formal lessons.
Samuel Smiles held that the bias given to a person's character in early life is of immense importance, because the young are so easily shaped by their surroundings.
Samuel Smiles held that if we want fine characters, we must present them with fine models, because people copy what they see every day.
Samuel Smiles likened small daily acts to snowflakes: each one seems trivial, but repeated acts harden into habit and build up into character, like an avalanche.
Samuel Smiles held that people follow example far more than precept, and that saying one thing while doing another teaches hypocrisy, which children see through.
Samuel Smiles recounts how Augustine's mother Monica prayed and counselled her wayward son for years, and her steady example eventually shaped his character.
Samuel Smiles held that lessons absorbed in childhood can lie dormant for decades and then spring up as good conduct, so sincere effort in raising children is never wasted.
Samuel Smiles held that a good home is the best school, in youth and in age, where people learn cheerfulness, patience, self-control and a sense of service.
Samuel Smiles held that quiet, patient effort in ordinary duty shapes character in ways that are rarely recorded, but whose influence goes on for generations.
Samuel Smiles recounts how Washington's mother raised five children alone after her husband died, through good sense, industry, vigilance and tenderness.
Samuel Smiles recounts Wesley's mother urging her son to organise his work by method and to act on principle, so that every precious moment is used well.
Samuel Smiles recounts Ary Scheffer's mother advising him to stay modest and to measure his best work against his own ideal, not against others, to guard against pride.
Samuel Smiles quotes Ary Scheffer saying that the moments he valued most were those in which he made sacrifices or denied himself enjoyments.
Samuel Smiles held that method is the soul of business, since work only gets done when it is organised, and that punctuality is part of method.
Samuel Smiles held that prudence is practical wisdom that grows from cultivated judgment and experience, and that it means weighing the right means, order and timing before acting.
Samuel Smiles argued that the education which fills a man's mind is equally good for a woman, because intelligence gives strength, foresight and better methods in every part of life.
Owen Feltham advised that we should copy the best examples and never rest until we equal or excel them, as a painter copies the finest work.
Samuel Smiles held that custom and example slowly consolidate into habit, and that habit can take hold of us so quietly that we give up our freedom before we notice.
Samuel Smiles held that the young need not simply copy those around them, because each person has the will to choose their own friends and conduct.
Samuel Smiles recounts Plato telling a boy that custom is not a little thing, since bad habits become a tyranny that people cling to even while they curse them.
Samuel Smiles held that people are known by the company they keep, and that living among good people lifts us up while bad company drags us down.
Samuel Smiles held that time with wiser and more experienced people enlarges our view of life, while living alone can leave us blind to the needs of others.
Samuel Smiles recounts how Henry Martyn, a nervous boy, was steadied for life by an older friend who guarded him, guided him and kept him on the right path.
Samuel Smiles recounts how a friend's honest, caring warning woke Paley from idleness, and he became one of the most industrious students of his year.
Samuel Smiles describes Dr Arnold trusting pupils with a share of responsibility for their school, which gave them strength and self-respect and lifted the whole place.
Samuel Smiles held that a great teacher's example teaches young people to respect themselves, and that self-respect is the root from which the manly virtues grow.
Samuel Smiles held that a person of good character sets the tone for everyone in a workshop, just as a person of bad character drags the others down.
Samuel Smiles quotes George Herbert saying that people need good examples more than precepts, because a good life persuades more powerfully than any words.
Samuel Smiles held that the portrait of a good person hung on a wall is a kind of companionship, linking us to a better nature and steadying us when we might otherwise do wrong.
Samuel Smiles recounts Tyndall on Faraday, whose strength was joined to modesty, tenderness and sweetness, and whose contact warmed and elevated those around him.
Samuel Smiles recounts Marshall Hall telling young men to take up a subject and pursue it well, since a new idea is worth chasing if you pursue it with energy.
Samuel Smiles held that energy in one person awakens energy in others through sympathy, so an earnest person carries those around them along without trying.
