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Success: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
'Tis not in mortals to command success, But we'll do more, Sempronius, - We'll deserve it.— ADDISON — Cato. Act I. Sc. 2.
Better have failed in the high aim, as I, Than vulgarly in the low aim succeed As, God be thanked! I do not.— ROBERT BROWNING — The Inn Album.
IV. They never fail who die In a great cause.— BYRON — Marino Faliero. Act II. Sc. 2. Now, by St. Paul, the work goes bravely on. COLLEY CIBBER-Richard III. Act III. Sc. 1.
I came up-stairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.— CONGREVE — Love for Love. Act II. Sc. 1.
Hast thou not learn'd what thou art often told, A truth still sacred, and believed of old, That no success attends on spears and swords Unblest, and that the battle is the Lord's?— COWPER — Expostulation. L. 350.
Th' aspirer, once attain'd unto the top, Cuts off those means by which himself got up.— SAM'L DANIEL — Civil War. Bk. II.
Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed.— EMILY DICKINSON — Success. Ed. 1891.
Born for success, he seemed With grace to win, with heart to hold, With shining gifts that took all eyes.— EMERSON — In Memoriam. L. 60.
One thing is forever good; That one thing is Success.— EMERSON — Fate.
Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain; "Think nothing gain'd," he cries, "till naught remain."— SAM'L JOHNSON — The Vanity of Human Wishes. L. 201.
When the shore is won at last, Who will count the billows past?— KEBLE — Christian Year. St. John the Evangelist's Day. St. 5.
I have always believed that success would be the inevitable result if the two services, the army and the navy, had fair play, and if we sent the right man to fill the right place.— AUSTIN H. LAYARD — Speech in
Parliament. Jan. 15, 1855 Providence is always on the side of the last reserve. a. Attributed to NAPOLEON I. The race by vigour, not by vaunts, is won.— POPE — The Dunciad. Bk. II. L. 59.
God is generally on the side of the large battalions against the small.— BUSSY RABUTIN — Letter IV. 91.
He that climbs the tall tree has won right to the fruit, He that leaps the wide gulf should prevail in his suit.— SCOTT — The Talisman. Ch. XXVI.
Fortune is always on the side of the largest battalions.— MME. DE SÉVIGNÉ — Letters. 202.
Didst thou never hear That things ill-got had ever bad success?— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. III. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 45.
Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.— Shakespeare — Richard III. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 1.
Such a nature, Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow Which he treads on at noon.— Shakespeare — Coriolanus. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 263.
To climb steep hills Requires slow pace at first.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 131.
Have I caught my heav'nly jewel.— SIR PHILIP SIDNEY — Astrophel and
Stella. Song II. See also Merry Wives of Windsor. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 45. The gods are on the side of the stronger.— TACITUS — Hist. IV. 17.
There may come a day Which crowns Desire with gift, and Art with truth, And Love with bliss, and Life with wiser youth!— BAYARD TAYLOR — The Picture of St. John. Bk. IV. St. 86.
It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.— VOLTAIRE — Letter to M. le Riche.
Feb. 6, 1770.
Tametsi prosperitas simul utilitasque consultorum non obique concordent, quoniam captorum eventus superæ sibi vindicant potestates. Yet the success of plans and the advantage to be derived from them do not at all times agree, seeing the gods claim to themselves the right to decide as to the final result.— AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS — Annales.
C'est une tempête dans un verre d'eau. It is a tempest in a tumbler of water. PAUL, GRAND-DUC DE RUSSIE-Of the insurrection in Geneva. Der Sturm ist Meister; Wind und Welle spielen Ball mit dem Menschen. The storm is master. Man, as a ball, is tossed twixt winds and billows.— SCHILLER — Wilhelm Tell. IV. 1. 59.
Il n'y a au monde que deux manières de s'élever, ou par sa propre industrie, ou par l'imbécilité des autres. There are but two ways of rising in the world: either by one's own industry or profiting by the foolishness of others.— LA BRUYÈRE — Les Caractères.
VI. J'ai toujours vu que, pour réussir dans le monde, il fallait avoir l'air fou et être sage. I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.— MONTESQUIEU — Pensées Diverses.
Le succès de la plupart des choses dépend de savoir combien il faut de temps pour réussir. The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.— MONTESQUIEU — Pensées Diverses.
Médiocre et rampant, et l'on arrive à tout. Be commonplace and creeping, and you attain all things. S.— BEAUMARCHAIS — Barbier de Séville.
III. 7. Qui bien chante et bien danse fait un métier qui peu avance. Singing and dancing alone will not advance one in the world.— ROUSSEAU — Confessions. V.
Ja, meine Liebe, wer lebt, verliert *** aber er gewinnt auch. Yes, my love, whosoever lives, loses, *** but he also wins. น.— GOETHE — Stella. I.
Wenn ihr's nicht fühlt ihr werdet's nicht erjagen. You'll never attain it unless you know the feeling.— GOETHE — Faust. I. 1. 182.
Ha sempre dimostrato l'esperienza, e lo dimostra la ragione, che mai succedono bene le cose che dipendono da molti. Experience has always shown, and reason also, that affairs which depend on many seldom succeed.— GUICCIARDINI — Storia d' Italia.