June '98 Epigrams of the Day

The selfish wish to govern is often mistaken for a holy zeal in the cause of humanity.

It is life which supplies the writer his theme. People who have not lived, no matter how grammatically they might write, have no message.

Difficulties afford heroism its opportunity. Blessed be difficulty!

The employee who is willing to steal for you will probably steal from you if he gets the chance.

The world laughs with the man who laughs; if you do not laugh, the world will laugh at you.

All I know of the love of God is what I see reflected in the eyes of her I love.

I doubt me much that the time will ever come when two pigs, meeting at the trough, will hesitate before jumping into the swill, and the bigger one say to the other, "After you, my dear Alphonse."

To loom large in life, get close to the camera.

All success consists in this: You are doing something for somebody - benefiting humanity - and the feeling of success comes from the consciousness of this.

Now, owls are not really wise - they only look that way. The owl is a sort of a college professor.

Every spirit makes its house, but as afterwards the house confines its spirit, you had better build well.

The woman who boasts of her virtue is one who probably was tested at an inopportune time by the wrong man.

The pygmy party thinks he is being sat on or held back. Forget it! Nothing can hold a man back but his own limitations.

We are under bounds for the moderate use of every faculty, and he who misuses any of God's gifts may not hope to go unscathed.

Two-thirds of all preachers, doctors and lawyers are hanging on the coat-tails of progress, shouting whoa! while a good many of the rest are busy strewing banana peels along the line of march.

Minimize friction and create harmony. You can get friction for nothing, but harmony costs courtesy and self-control.

To try many things means Power; to finish a few means Immortality.

Idleness is the only sin. A blacksmith singing at his forge, sparks a-flying, anvil ringing, the man materializing an idea - what is finer!

If you talk in your sleep, don't mention my name!

Troubles are not really troubles unless you quit work and incubate them - otherwise they are only incidental diversions.

To almost every fond father the idea of discipline is to have the child act just as he does.

This habit of expectancy always marks the strong man. It is a form of attraction: our own comes to us because we desire it; we find what we expect to find, and we receive what we ask for. All life is a prayer - strong natures pray most - and every earnest, sincere prayer is answered.

Disuse is misuse.

How far can a woman go to win in Love's race? A step backward is often good policy.

Be wise and teach, but do not punish; for God's in His Heaven, and all's right with the world.

The last word is this: Nothing matters, and no difference what happens, the end is well. But wisdom consists in hustling just the same.

A woman who can not make her mistakes charming is only a female.

Life is a search for power. To have power you must have life, and life in abundance. And life in abundance comes only through great love.

Saintship is the exclusive possession of those who have either worn out or never had the capacity to sin.

The Roycroft Orb To return to the Epigram Guide Webpage.