Ella Wheeler Wilcox Quotes

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.

It is easy to be pleasant when life flows by like a song, but the man worth while is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is trouble, and it always comes with years, and the smile that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through the tears.

The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.

To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.

There's one sad truth in life I've found While journeying east and west - The only folks we really wound Are those we love the best. We flatter those we scarcely know, We please the fleeting guest, And deal full many a thoughtless blow To those who love us best.

A weed is but an unloved flower.

With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.

The two kinds of people on earth are the people who lift and the people who lean.

So many gods, so many creeds, so many paths that wind and wind while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.

I am the voice of the voiceless; Through me the dumb shall speak. Till the deaf world's ears be made to hear. The wrongs of the wordless weak. And I am my brothers keeper, And I will fight his fights; And speak the words for beast and bird. Till the world shall set things right.

Do you wish the world were happy? Then remember day by day, just to scatter seeds of kindness as you pass along the way. . . .

Love lights more fire than hate extinguishes.

Use all your hidden forces. Do not miss The purpose of this life, and do not wait For circumstance to mould or change your fate.

Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.

One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow. Tis the set of the sails And not the gales Which tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through the life: Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal, And not the calm or the strife.

A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.

With every rising of the sun Think of your life as just begun. The past has shrived and buried deep All yesterdays— there let them sleep, Nor seek to summon back one ghost Of that innumerable host. Concern yourself with but today; Woo it and teach it to obey Your wish and will. Since time began Today has been the friend of man. But in his blindness and his sorrow He looks to yesterday and tomorrow.

The dark today leads into light tomorrow. There is no endless joy, and yet no endless sorrow.

All the past is not worth one today.

All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand.

You may choose your words like a connoisseur, And polish it up with art, But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays, Is the word that comes from the heart.

Don't look for flaws as you go through life and even when you find them it is wise and kind to be somewhat blind, and look for the virtue behind them.

There is no satisfaction that can compare with looking back across the years and finding you've grown in self-control, judgment, generosity, and unselfishness.

Let no man pray that he know not sorrow, Let no soul ask to be free from pain, For the gall of to-day is the sweet of to-morrow, And the moment's loss is the lifetime's gain.

'Tis easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong.