Thomas Carlyle quotes

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

The eye sees what it brings the power to see.

Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by action alone.

Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice; but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is sure as life, it is sure as death.

Secrecy is the element of all goodness; even virtue, even beauty is mysterious.

I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.

It were a real increase of human happiness, could all young men from the age of nineteen be covered under barrels, or rendered otherwise invisible; and there left to follow their lawful studies and callings, till they emerged, sadder and wiser, at the age of twenty-five.

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

Wonder is the basis of worship.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice; but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is sure as life, it is sure as death.

He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

Clever men are good, but they are not the best.

There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.

Work alone is noble.

It is a vain hope to make people happy by politics.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

Imagination is a poor matter when it has to part company with understanding.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

Endurance is patience concentrated.

True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper.

The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

Humor has justly been regarded as the finest perfection of poetic genius.

If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

Work alone is noble.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.

The three great elements of modern civilization, Gun powder, Printing, and the Protestant religion.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

To reform a world, to reform a nation, no wise man will undertake; and all but foolish men know, that the only solid, though a far slower reformation, is what each begins and perfects on himself.

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.

The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.

Old age is not a matter for sorrow. It is matter for thanks if we have left our work done behind us.

It were a real increase of human happiness, could all young men from the age of nineteen be covered under barrels, or rendered otherwise invisible; and there left to follow their lawful studies and callings, till they emerged, sadder and wiser, at the age of twenty-five.

Be not a slave of words.

The real use of gunpowder is to make all men tall.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then.