Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.
Samuel SmilesRead
Character is property. It is the noblest of possessions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Character is more valuable than material possessions.
In this quote, Samuel Smiles emphasizes the importance of character as a fundamental aspect of one's identity and worth. Unlike material wealth, which can be transient and superficial, character represents a person's integrity, values, and moral fiber, making it an invaluable possession that defines true nobility and respect in society.
Themes
CharacterPropertyNobilityPossessionsIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal development.
More from Samuel Smiles
All quotes βHope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
Samuel SmilesRead
The career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but his thoughts and acts survive and leave an indelible stamp upon his race.
Samuel SmilesRead
Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.
Samuel SmilesRead
An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.
Samuel SmilesRead
If we opened our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.
Samuel SmilesRead
Similar quotes
Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.
Marcus AureliusRead
The appetite grows with eating.
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Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.
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Don't worry about what the people say; be yourself, say what you want to say WITH respect.
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There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
To be content means that you realize you contain what you seek.
Alan CohenRead