Inspirational Quotes by Byron J. Rees

“Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me.”

“to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.”

“The summer, in some climates, makes possible to man a sort of Elysian life. Fuel, except to cook his Food, is then unnecessary; the sun is his fire, and many of the fruits are sufficiently cooked by its rays; while Food generally is more various, and more easily obtained, and Clothing and Shelter are wholly or half unnecessary. At the present day, and in this country, as I find by my own experience, a few implements, a knife, an axe, a spade, a wheelbarrow, etc., and for the studious, lamplight, stationery, and access to a few books, rank next to necessaries, and can all be obtained at a trifling cost. Yet some, not wise, go to the other side of the globe, to barbarous and unhealthy regions, and devote themselves to trade for ten or twenty years, in order that they may live—that is, keep comfortably warm—and die in New England at last.”

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.”

“it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.”

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common Hours.”

“Per la maggior parte, noi siamo più soli quando usciamo tra gli uomini che quando restiamo in camera nostra. Un uomo che pensi o lavori è sempre solo – lasciatelo stare dove vuole. La solitudine non è misurata dalle miglia di distanza che si frappongono fra un uomo e il suo prossimo”

“Tokie jau rytdienos prigimitis - ji niekada neišaušta, genama vien laiko. Šviesa, kuri akina, mums atrodo kaip tamsa. Išaušta tik tas rytas, kuriame mes patys pabundame. Diena ateina po aušros. Saulė tėra ryto žvaidžgė.”

“Persino in questo paese relativamente libero, gli uomini, nella maggior parte (per pura ignoranza ed errore), sono così presi dalle false preoccupazioni e dai più superflui e grossolani lavori per la vita, che non possono cogliere i frutti più saporiti che questa offre loro: le fatiche eccessive cui si sottopongono hanno reso le loro dita impacciate e tremanti. In effetti, un uomo che lavora duramente non ha abbastanza tempo per conservare giorno per giorno la propria vera integrità: non può permettersi di mantenere con gli altri uomini i più nobili rapporti, perché il suo lavoro sarebbe deprezzato sul mercato; ha tempo solo per essere una macchina […]. Io mi aguzzai la vista con l’esperienza, e così mi appare evidente che la maggior parte di voi conduce una vita meschina e abbietta: siete sempre in bilico, tentando di entrare in affari e insieme di tirarvi fuori dai debiti […] vivendo, morendo, venendo sepolti sempre per mezzo di questo bronzo altrui; promettendo sempre “pagherò”, ripetendo “domani pagherò” e morendo oggi, insolventi; tentando di ottenere favori e credito in tutti i modi possibili (scartando solo quelli che implichino rischio di galera) cioè con la menzogna, la piaggeria, il voto […] arrivando ad ammalarvi per mettere da parte qualcosa per quando sarete ammalati […]. Talvolta mi meraviglio che si possa essere tanto superficiali, per così dire, da applicarsi a quella volgare ma piuttosto straniera forma di servitù chiamata Schiavismo Negro, quando vi sono padroni così astuti e così scaltri che riescono a tenere schiavi Nord e Sud […] ma la cosa peggiore, è essere negrieri di se stessi.”

“In the savage state every family owns a shelter as good as the best, and sufficient for its coarser and simpler wants; but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that, though the birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes, and the savages their wigwams, in modern civilized society not more than one half the families own a shelter. In the large towns and cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole. The rest pay an annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams, but now helps to keep them poor as long as they live.”

“If you stand right fronting and face-to-face to a fact, you will see the sun glimmer on both its surfaces, as if it were a scimitar, and feel its sweet edge dividing you through the heart and marrow, and so you will happily conclude your mortal career.”

“you must everywhere build on piles of your own driving.”

“I would fain keep sober always; and there are infinite degrees of drunkenness.”

“If a man has faith, he will co-operate with equal faith everywhere; if he has not faith, he will continue to live like the rest of the world, whatever company he is joined to.”

“I find by my own experience, a few implements, a knife, an axe, a spade, a wheelbarrow, etc., and for the studious, lamplight, stationery, and access to a few books, rank next to necessaries, and can all be obtained at a trifling cost.”

“Tenía tres sillas en mi casa; una para la soledad, dos para la amistad, tres para la compañía”

“equal”

“I would rather sit in the open air, for no dust gathers on the grass, unless where man has broken ground.”

“Virtue does not remain as an abandoned orphan; it must of necessity have neighbors.”

“Por intensa que sea mi experiencia, soy consciente de la presencia y de la crítica de una parte de mi ser, la cual, digámoslo así, no es parte de mí, sino un espectador que no comparte la experiencia, pero toma nota de ella, y que no es más yo que tú.”