I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again.
Interpretation
Trust can be challenging, especially after being let down repeatedly.
This quote underscores the struggle of maintaining trust in others even after trying to extend grace and belief in someone's potential. Ulysses S. Grant reflects on his commitment to trust people, despite the disappointment he has felt, highlighting the difficulty of rebuilding trust once it has been broken.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a discussion about friendship during a gathering.
The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.
Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
Let us labor for the security of free thought, free speech, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion;.... leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contribution. Keep church and state forever separate.
When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall.
A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be. You could give something to her, to me, to those children in the quarter. You could give something I never could ... The white people out there are saying you don't have it-that you're a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong.
Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose.
The pessimist borrows trouble; the optimists lend encouragement.
Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.
When any fit of gloominess, or perversion of mind, lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exert your whole care to hide it; by endeavouring to hide it; you will dry it away. Be always busy.
When you're on your own, you have all the self-censorship that everybody has when they try and write. All the little voices that say, 'No, you can't write that, what will they think of that?'
You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.
If you believe in living a respectable life, you believe in self-help which is the best help!
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