The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
It is not a lucky word, this name impossible; no good comes of those who have it so often in their mouths.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The word 'impossible' can limit our beliefs and hinder our potential for success.
Thomas Carlyle emphasizes the negative connotation and effects of the word 'impossible.' By frequently using this term, individuals may adopt a mindset that restricts their aspirations and achievements, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy where no good can arise from such a limiting perspective.
Themes
ImpossibleMindsetSuccessBeliefLimits
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage persistence despite challenges.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes →Thirty millions, mostly fools.
Thomas CarlyleRead
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
Thomas CarlyleRead
For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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