Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods.
Alexander Graham BellRead
A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with - a man is what he makes of himself.
Interpretation
Our identity and success are primarily shaped by our actions and choices rather than our innate abilities or circumstances of birth.
This quote by Alexander Graham Bell emphasizes the importance of personal effort and determination in defining who we are. While one may have certain natural talents or advantages, it is ultimately the choices we make and the work we put in that shape our lives and character. It serves as a reminder that we have the power to create our own destinies through persistence and self-improvement.
In practice
During a graduation speech to inspire students about their future.
Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods.
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them.
America is a country of inventors, and the greatest of inventors are the newspaper men.
There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things.
When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
My day passes between logic, whistling, going for walks, and being depressed. I wish to God that I were more intelligent and everything would finally become clear to me - or else that I needn't live much longer.
Man is a history-making creature, who can neither repeat his past, nor leave it behind.
Since life itself is uncertain, nothing which has life for its basis can boast much stability.
A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.
Ask yourselves this question: How often is Jesus inside and knocking at the door to be let out, to come out?
The secret story is the one we'll never know, although we're living it from day to day, thinking we're alive, thinking we've got it all under control and the stuff we overlook doesn't matter.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.