William Rounseville Alger Quotes

I feel that my work is not in vain, that it does have a place in society, even though it may not be considered that it has a place in society - it doesn't matter.

Nobody can determine what your life means or how much your valued. You are your value.

..."And for God's sake, never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people's net-worth. As Yogi Ramen preached: 'Every second you spend thinking about someone elses dreams you take time away from your own.'"

No human being, when you understand his desires, is worthless. No one's life is nothing.

But what are loyalty and caring really worth?" "To me? Everything.

Is a man one whit the better because he is grown great in other men's esteem?

Never get into the petty habit of measuring yourself worth against other people's net worth.

Winning or losing an argument, receiving an acceptance or rejection, is no proof of the validity or value of personal identity. One may be wrong, mistaken, or a poor craftsman, or just ignorant - but this is no indication of the true worth of one's total human identity: past, present and future!

I am a human being, not a human doing. Don't equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You aren't what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don't . . , you aren't.

Are we defined by our choices? Our behavior? Our actions? No. I don't believe that defines our worth.

All men matter. You matter. I matter. It's the hardest thing in theology to believe.

You're special-not because of what you have. You're special because of who you are.

...people liking you or not liking you is an accident and is to do with them and not you. That goes for love too, only more so.

People who think that they are being 'exploited' should ask themselves whether they would be missed if they left, or whether people would say: 'Good riddance?'

To offer our hearts in faith means recognizing that our hearts are worth something, that we ourselves, in our deepest and truest nature, are of value.

I think my greatest insecurity would just be standing in the middle of the room and having everyone watching me thinking that's what I want. If I am interesting to you because of who I am, then that's incredible. But if I'm interesting to you only because of what I am, then let's not bother, you know?

TRUTH: When a child believes he must win to be worthy, when young adults define themselves by what they do and not who they are, it is a kind of slavery a slave master would envy.

Scarcity of self value cannot be remedied by money, recognition, affection, attention or influence.

Disconnect your identity from what you produce, and that’s a hard thing for us because we think of our significance, worth and value based on what we do instead of who we are.

I'm encouraging you to know what you're worth. And know that no matter who has more money in class, who has more stuff, who has a country house - nobody is worth more than anybody else.

If you keep your perspective correct and understand that people are coming to you because your gift makes room for you in the world, then you do not need to wonder or worry about having to misplace your importance as a person.

As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has-or ever will have-something inside that is unique to all time.

You don't measure life by receiving awards.

The trouble with the sacred Individual is that he has no significance, except as he can acquire it from others, from the social whole.

Every human being is a volume, worthy to be studied.