“A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, in each government, in each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elites, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society. There are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn Commencement Address at Harvard University, 1978
“… we enter life with a heritage that reaches back through the ages. But we do not choose our ancestors. When we come into the world the gate of gifts is closed behind us. We can do nothing about it. So far as each individual is concerned all he can do is to take the abilities he has and make the most of them. His power over the past is gone. His power over the future depends on what he does with himself in the present. If he wishes to live and progress he must work.”
Calving Coolidge The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 1929. p. 37
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“Surprisingly few men are lacking in capacity, but they fail because they are lacking in application. Either they never learn how to work, or, having leared, they are too indolent to apply themselves with the seriousness and the attention that is necessary to solve important problems.
“Any reward that is worth having only comes to the industrious. The success which is made in any walk of life is measured almost exactly by the amount of hard work that is put into it.”
Calving Coolidge The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 1929. p. 171