Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
Abraham Lincoln

The assertion that "all men are created equal" was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use.
Abraham Lincoln

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
Abraham Lincoln

In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.
Abraham Lincoln

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.
Benjamin Franklin

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.
Mark Twain

A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.
Oscar Wilde

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.
Oscar Wilde

The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.
Oscar Wilde

The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is charging a great deal too much for it.
Oscar Wilde

Now that the House of Commons is trying to become useful, it does a great deal of harm.
Oscar Wilde

My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.
Mark Twain

Half a truth is often a great lie.
Benjamin Franklin

Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste.
Benjamin Franklin

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.
Benjamin Franklin

Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.
Benjamin Franklin

I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things.
Benjamin Franklin

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.
Benjamin Franklin

There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.
Benjamin Franklin

When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.
William Shakespeare