The great end of life is not knowledge but action. ... by Thomas Henry Huxley

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. ...
by Thomas Henry Huxley

The Four Stages of Public Opinion
I (Just after publication): The novelty is absurd
and subversive of Religion and Morality.
The propounder both fool and knave.
II (Twenty years later): The Novelty is absolute Truth
and will yield a full and satisfactory
explanation of things in general -
The propounder a man of sublime genius and perfect virtue.
III (Forty years later): The Novelty won't explain
things in general after all, and therefore is a wretched failure.
The propounder a very ordinary person advertised by a clique.
IV (A century later): The Novelty a mixture of truth and error.
Explains as much as could reasonably be expected.
The propounder worthy of all honor
in spite of his share of human frailties,
as one who has added to the permanent possessions of science.
- Thomas Henry [T. H.] Huxley

The essence of life is not in
the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If (s)he's an apple and you're an orange,
celebrate your differences -
make a great fruit salad.
Love isn't about being the same -
it's about being sweet with each other.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Dare to dream of your great success.
Become intimate with those things
which deeply motivate you
and regularly work toward
the realization of that mission.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

The magic words for a great relationship are,
"I love you just the way you are."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop,
striped and dotted with continents and islands,
flying through space with other stars
all singing and shining together as one,
the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.
- John Muir

You are important. You are the star -
the only star - of your own life show.
Everyone else is a bit player in the great drama of your life.
Be of service to humanity, but never be anyone's doormat.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If a man is called to be a street sweeper,
he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts
of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

To the young child, all life is a great adventure -
when did we grow so dull and brittle.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Love is the great miracle cure.
Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.
- Louise L. Hay

Keep courage. Whatever you do,
do not feel sorry for yourself.
You will win in a great age of opportunity.
- Richard L. Evans

Great men or men of great gifts
you shall easily find,
but symmetrical men never.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Great opportunities to help others seldom come,
but small ones surround us every day.
- Sally Koch

Before we acquire great power
we must acquire wisdom to use it well.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thinking is necessary, but not sufficient, for living a great life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

These are the keys to a great life...
taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come nearest to the great
when we are great in humility.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks
in great and honorable courses
with a sure hope and trust in itself.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The only good luck many great men ever had was
being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck.
- Channing Pollock

To be conscious that you are ignorant
is a great step to knowledge.
- Benjamin Disraeli

Know that the essence of life is not
in the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

How do we measure a great leader?
By how he treats the least of these.
- Jesse Jackson

I have decided to stick with love.
Hate is too great a burden to bear.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The great pleasure in life is doing
what people say you cannot do.
- Walter Bagehot

If the misery of the poor be caused
not by the laws of nature,
but by our institutions,
great is our sin.
- Charles Darwin

Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Man becomes great exactly in the degree
in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Character is higher than intellect.
A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wealth consists not in having great possessions,
but in having few wants.
- Epictetus

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies,
but even more to stand up to your friends.
- J.K. Rowling

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie,
deliberate, contrived and dishonest,
but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
- John F. Kennedy

I am a great believer in luck
and I find that the harder
I work the more I have of it.
- Thomas Jefferson

The Two Great Lessons of Life: Choose Love & Trust God.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The Universe is one great kindergarten for man.
Everything that exists has brought
with it its own peculiar lesson.
- Orison Swett Marden

Great spirits have always encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds.
- Albert Einstein

Confidence is the most important single factor in this game,
and no matter how great your natural talent,
there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.
- Jack Nicklaus

As many raindrops join to form a great river of water,
many souls join their highest intent to form
the river of evolved consciousness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The water in a vessel is sparkling;
the water in the sea is dark.
The small truth has words which are clear;
the great truth has great silence.
- Rabindranath Tagore

My great concern is not whether you have failed,
but whether you are content with your failure.
- Abraham Lincoln

There is a great future in front of you,
you can leave your past behind.
- Joel Osteen

That some achieve great success,
is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
- Abraham Lincoln

Know that you cannot create great new beginnings
until you sincerely celebrate the endings that precede them.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Great works are performed not by strength,
but by perseverance.
- Samuel Johnson

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers,
who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt
to offer a solution everybody can understand.
- Colin Powell

In times of great stress or adversity,
it's always best to keep busy,
to plow your anger and your energy
into something positive.
- Lee Iacocca

Life is a great big canvas,
and you should throw all the paint you can on it.
- Danny Kaye

Great talents are the most lovely
and often the most dangerous
fruits on the tree of humanity.
They hang upon the most slender twigs
that are easily snapped off.
- Carl Jung

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak.
Strong convictions precede great actions.
- Louisa May Alcott

To accomplish great things,
we must not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe.
- Anatole France

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May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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The great end of life is not knowledge but action. ...by Thomas Henry Huxley

Quotes and Sayings

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. ...
by Thomas Henry Huxley