Echoes

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

Well done is better than well said.

Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.

I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds.

Of a surety, at the Day of Judgment it will be demanded of us, not what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holily we have lived.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.

All praise of virtue consists in action.

To see what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.

My life is my message.

It is in your act that you exist, not in your body. Your act is yourself, and there is no other you.

I would prefer inarticulate wisdom to loquacious foolishness.

Right here let me make as vigorous a plea as I know how in favor of saying nothing that we do not mean, and of acting without hesitation up to whatever we say. A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick—you will go far." If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

It is sometimes easier to make the world a better place than to prove you have made the world a better place.

Virtue is serious business; everything else is farce.

It is no use to preach to [children] if you do not act decently yourself.

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much that I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good.

When you have decided that a thing ought to be done and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it, though many shall form an unfavorable opinion about it. For if it is not right, avoid doing the thing; but if it is right, why are you afraid of those who shall find fault wrongly?