toiling upward in the night

The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Ladder of St. Augustine. 1858

their discipline is weak

One of the great tragedies we witness almost daily is the tragedy of men of high aim and low achievement. Their motives are noble. Their proclaimed ambition is praiseworthy. Their capacity is great. But their discipline is weak. They succumb to indolence. Appetite robs them of will.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Ensign May 1979 as found in Ensign May 1994

become that moment

Right now a moment of time is passing by! We must become that moment.

Paul Cézanne

Embracing Change: 10 Ways to Grow Spiritually and Emotionally. Joseph F. Sica. Twenty-Third Publications, 2003.

too busy to enjoy

Modern man is frantically trying to earn enough to buy things he's too busy to enjoy.

Frank Clark

Living wisely in a foolish world. 1992

the smallness of his wants

It is not the greatness of a man’s means that makes him independent, so much as the smallness of his wants.


William Cobbett
Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, Volumes 67-68. 1829