Elbert Hubbard Men Quotations

The man who has no problems is out of the game.

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.

The reason men oppose progress is not that they hate progress, but that they love inertia.

A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.

A conservative is a man who is too cowardly to fight and too fat to run.

Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.

Men are only as great as they are kind.

If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.

The man who knows it can't be done counts the risk, not the reward.

Man's greatest blunder has been in trying to make peace with the skies instead of making peace with his neighbors

The great man is not so great as folks think, and the dull man is not quite so stupid as he seems. The difference in our estimates of men lies in the fact that one individual is able to get his goods into the show-window, and the other is not aware that he has any show-window or any goods.

We will not be dictated to by men with less intelligence, energy, initiative and ambition than we ourselves possess.

The man who is anybody and who does anything is surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood. This is a part of the penalty for greatness, and every great man understands it; and understands, too, that it is no proof of greatness. The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure contumely without resentment.

In these days, a man who says a thing cannot be done is quite apt to be interrupted by some idiot doing it.

If you work for a man, in heavens name work for him! If he pays you wages that supply you your bread and butter, work for him speak well of him, think well of him, stand by him and stand by the institution he represents. I think if I worked for a man I would work for him. I would not work for him a part of the time, and the rest of the time work against him. I would give an undivided service or none. If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.

Theology, by diverting the attention of men from this life to another, and by endeavoring to coerce all men into one religion, constantly preaching that this world is full of misery, but the next world would be beautiful - or not, as the case may be - has forced on men the thought of fear where otherwise there might have been the happy abandon of nature.

The average woman sees only the weak points in a strong man, and the good points in a weak one.

If you want work well done, select a busy man - the other kind has no time.

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.

The difference in men does not lie in the size of their hands, nor in the perfection of their bodies, but in this one sublime ability of concentration: to throw the weight in one blow, to live eternity in an hour.

When a man sends you an impudent letter, sit right down and give it back to him with interest ten times compounded, and then throw both letters in the wastebasket.

Every man should have a college education in order to show him how little the thing is really worth.

The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on.

Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.

A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.

Lawyers are men whom we hire to protect us from lawyers.

It is the weak man who urges compromise - never the strong man.

Man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is.

Theology is an attempt to explain a subject by men who do not understand it. The intent is not to tell the truth but to satisfy the questioner.

Failure -- The man who can tell others what to do and how to do it, but never does it himself.

Woman's inaptitude for reasoning has not prevented her from arriving at truth; nor has man's ability to reason prevented him from floundering in absurdity.

No man should dogmatize except on the subject of theology. Here he can take his stand, and by throwing the burden of proof on the opposition, he is invincible. We have to die to find out whether he is right.

As a rule, the man who can do all things equally well is a very mediocre individual.

A man's acts are usually right, but his reasons seldom are.

If it was woman who put man out of Paradise, it is still woman, and woman only, who can lead him back.

Man is Creation's masterpiece. But who says so?

The heroic man does not pose; he leaves that for the man who wishes to be thought heroic.

To know the great men dead is compensation for having to live with the mediocre.

If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all?

A poor man who eats too much, as contradistinguished from a gourmand, who is a rich man who ''lives well.''

Your neighbor is the man who needs you.

What we call God's justice is only man's idea of what he would do if he were God.

Every man who speaks out loud and clear is tinting the "Zeitgeist." Every man who expresses what he honestly thinks is true is changing the Spirit of the Times. Thinkers help other people to think, for they formulate what others are thinking. No person writes or thinks alone--thought is in the air, but its expression is necessary to create a tangible Spirit of the Times.

The average man plays to the gallery of his own self-esteem.

When certain unmarried men, who had lost their capacity to sin, sat indoors, breathing bad air, and passed resolutions about what was right and what wrong, making rules for the guidance of the people, instead of trusting to the natural, happy instincts of the individual, they ushered in the Dark Ages. These are the gentlemen who blocked human evolution absolutely for a thousand years.

When trouble comes, wise men take to their work; weak men take to the woods.

Wise Man: One who sees the storm coming before the clouds appear.

Some men can get results if kindly encouraged, but give me the kind that do things in spite of hell.

Insomnia never comes to a man who has to get up exactly at six o'clock. Insomnia troubles only those who can sleep any time.

Would you make men better - set them an example. The millenium will never come until governments cease from governing, and the meddler is at rest.

Men who sit back and pride themselves on their culture haven't any to speak of.

Man creates both his god and his devil in his own image. His god is himself at his best, and his devil himself at his worst.

The man who is so run down that he needs a vacation can never adjust or reform himself in two weeks. What he really needs is to re-transform his life.

Men who marry for gratification, propagation or the matter of buttons or socks, must expect to cope with and deal in a certain amount of quibble, subterfuge, concealments, and double, deep-dyed prevarication.

All good men are anarchists. All cultured, kindly men; all gentlemen; all just men are anarchists. Jesus was an anarchist.

Martyrs and persecutors are the same type of man. As to which is the persecutor and which the martyr, this is only a question of transient power.

Do not go out of your way to do good whenever it comes your way. Men who make a business of doing good to others are apt to hate others in the same occupation. Simply be filled with the thought of good, and it will radiate you do not have to bother about it, any more than you need trouble about your digestion.

No man ever did or can do a great work alone.

It is not to be wondered that men have worshiped the ocean, for in his depths they have seen mirrored the image of Eternity of Infinity. Here they have seen the symbol of God's great plan of oneness with His creatures, for the sea is the union of all infinite particles, and it takes the whole to make the one.

The fool is not the man who merely does foolish things. The fool is the man who does not know enough to cash in on his foolishness.

Let a man once see himself as others see him, and all enthusiasm vanishes from his heart.

It is not book learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebra which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies, do a thing.

Some men succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are.

A committee is a thing which takes a week to do what one good man can do in an hour.

The man who craves disciples and wants followers is always more or less of a charlatan. The man of genuine worth and insight wants to be himself; and he wants others to be themselves, also.

Miracle: An event described by those to whom it was told by men who did not see it.

Life is a checkerboard, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision!

Strong men can always afford to be gentle. Only the weak are intent on giving as good as they get.

Unleash your TRAVEL BEAST .... explore the world. It's time to begin your next adventure! No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.

Men whose lives are doubtful want a strong government and a hot religion

An imitator is a man who succeeds in being an imitation.

Forbid a man to think for himself or to act for himself and you may add the joy of piracy and the zest of smuggling to his life.

Put yourself in the other man's place and then you will know why he thinks certain things and does certain deeds.

Responsibiliti es gravitate to the man who can shoulder them and the power to him who knows how

A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman is as bad as she dares

Blessed is the man who has found someone to do his work.

It does not make much difference what a person studies-all knowledge is related, and the man who studies anything, if he keeps at it, will be learned.

The only man who makes money following the races is one who does it with a broom and shovel.

Man, like Deity, creates in his own image.

Do you say that religion is still needed? Then I answer that Work, Study, Health and Love constitute religion. . . . Most formal religions have pronounced the love of man for woman and woman for man an evil thing. . . . They have said that sickness was sent from God. . . . Now we deny it all, and again proclaim that these will bring you all the good there is: Health, Work, Study - Love!

It is always the nearest, plainest and simplest principles that learned men comprehend last.

The Great Man is a man who lives a long way off.

The new definition of a heathen is a man who has never played baseball.

Wealth: A cunning device of Fate whereby men are made captive, and burdened with responsibilites from which only Death can file their fetters.

The average man believes a thing first, and then searches for proof to bolster his opinion

The hundred-point man is one who is true to every trust; who keeps his word; who is loyal to the firm that employs him; who does not listen for insults nor look for slights; who carries a civil tongue in his head; who is polite to strangers without being fresh; who is considerate toward servants; who is moderate in his eating and drinking; who is willing to learn; who is cautious and yet courageous.

A woman can defend her virtue from men much more easily than she can protect her reputation from women

An event described by those to whom it was told by men who did not see it.