Quotes by Thomas Carlyle

The end of man is an action, and not a thought, though it were the noblest.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

What is done is done; has already blended itself with the boundless, ever living, ever working universe, and will also work there for good or evil, openly or secretly, throughout all time.

— Thomas Carlyle

Success

For one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

Efforts to be permanently useful must be uniformly joyous, a spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because bright.

— Thomas Carlyle

Success

Let him who gropes painfully in darkness or uncertain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay this precept well to heart: "Do the duty which lieth nearest to thee," which thou knowest to be a duty! Thy second duty will already have become clearer.

— Thomas Carlyle

Love

Our grand business is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

Blessed is the man who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. Know thy work, and do it; and work at it like Hercules. One monster there is in the world, the idle man.

— Thomas Carlyle

Success

The older I grow—and I now stand upon the brink of eternity—the more comes back to me that sentence in the Catechism which I learned when a child, and the fuller and deeper its meaning becomes, "What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

— Thomas Carlyle

Happiness

Piety does not mean that a man should make a sour face about things, and refuse to enjoy in moderation what his Maker has given.

— Thomas Carlyle

Happiness

Here are no fabulous joys and woes; no hollow, fantastic sentimentalities; no wire-drawn refinings, either in thought or feeling; the passion that is traced before us has glowed in a living heart; the opinion he utters has risen in his own understanding, and been a light to his own steps.

— Thomas Carlyle

Love

It seems to me a great truth, that human things cannot stand on selfishness, mechanical utilities, economies, and law courts; that if there be not a religious element in the relations of men, such relations are miserable, and doomed to ruin.

— Thomas Carlyle

Truth

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.

— Thomas Carlyle

Courage

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

— Thomas Carlyle

Love

He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

— Thomas Carlyle

Hope

Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance - the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it; better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.

— Thomas Carlyle

Courage

There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

— Thomas Carlyle

Success

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.

— Thomas Carlyle

Success

Endurance is patience concentrated.

— Thomas Carlyle

Wisdom

If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

— Thomas Carlyle

Love