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 are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones.
Bertolt BrechtRead
On the day of your birth, the Creator filled countless storehouses, set aside for your use and yours alone.
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Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.
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We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.
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Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. Those who have no faith in themselves can never have faith in God.
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He who is not actively kind is cruel!
John RuskinRead