Orison Swett Marden Quotes

God looks at the clean hands, not the full ones.

He is good and wise who always speaks the truth, acts on the dictates of virtue, and tries to make others good and happy.

The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.

What is character? It is that quality of man which is going to make a man, in an hour of strain, do the just and, if possible, the generous thing.

Valor is common but great souls are rare.

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.

He who is educated and eloquent must not measure his saintliness merely by his fluency.

Such, Echecrates, was the end of our comrade, who was, we may fairly say, of all those whom we knew in our time, the bravest and also the wisest and most upright man.

Courage: Great Russian word, fit for the songs of our children's children, pure on their tongues, and free.

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.

There's not much out there that people are fighting for that leaves them with nothing but honor.

Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval.

There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.

The man who in this world can keep the whiteness of his soul is not likely to lose it in any other.

Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.

Job 29 is about Job reflecting on his past before the calamity hit him to say this is the type of man I was. So, you want to know what God calls perfect and upright? Read Job 29, and you will understand what kind of man God esteems.

No speech can stain what is noble by nature.

Blessedness is not the reward of virtue but virtue itself.

The man of life upright has a guiltless heart, free from all dishonest deeds or thought of vanity.

A good youth ought to have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honor to his elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility, but should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to youthful years.

The object of the superior man is truth.

Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.