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
There is no possibility of relaxation if you have a mind and an ego; the ego is the center of the mind. You will be tense, you will remain tense. How to relax? Is there any way to relax? There is no way unless understanding is there. If you understand the nature of the world, the nature of the very existence, then who are you to worry, and why be in a worried state continuously?
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Wise investors won't try to outsmart the market.
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Sometimes you had to take a look at yourself and then look away.
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Simple questions can be profound, and answering them requires us to make stark and honest - and sometimes painful - self-assessments.
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When one is trying to do something beyond his known powers it is useless to seek the approval of friends. Friends are at their best in moments of defeat.
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The object of reflection is invariably the discovery of something satisfying to the mind which was not there at the beginning of the search.
Ernest DimnetRead