But if whatever thou enjoyed hath been Lavished and lost, and life is now offence, Why seekest more to add—which in its turn Will perish foully and fall out in vain?
— from On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

Learn, then, to will strongly and decisively; thus fix your floating life and leave it no longer to be carried hither and thither, like a withered leaf, by every wind that blows.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

The plan of a select class, superfined, (demarcated from the rest,) the plan of Old World lands and literatures, is not so objectionable in itself, but because it chokes the true plan for us, and indeed is death to it.
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

Enough, I still live; and life is not considered now apart from ethic; it will [have] deception; it thrives (lebt) on deception ... but am I not beginning to do all over again what I have always done, I, the old immoralist, and bird snarer—talk unmorally, ultramorally, "beyond good and evil"?
— from Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

The little court of the Luxembourg, at least, if not that of the grand King's, was thrown open to La Fontaine, and he
— from The Fables of La Fontaine Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré by Jean de La Fontaine

What following sorrow may on this arise; Then looking scornfully, he doth despise His naked armour of still-slaughter'd lust, And justly thus controls his thoughts unjust: 'Fair torch, burn out thy light, and lend it not To darken her whose light excelleth thine: And die, unhallow'd thoughts, before you blot With your uncleanness that which is divine!
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

To lie a little is not possible: he who lies, lies the whole lie.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Do you observe, Meno, that I am not teaching the boy anything, but only asking him questions; and now he fancies that he knows how long a line is necessary in order to produce a figure of eight square feet; does he not? MENO:
— from Meno by Plato

Learn, then, to will decisively and strongly; thus fix your floating life, and leave it no longer to be carried hither and thither, like a withered leaf, by every wind that blows.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

In every land a guest, Of many lands a lord, In no land King is he.
— from Songs from Books by Rudyard Kipling

He had been evolving that secret in his mind for some time, and if he could in any way get the confidence of Hanz, and obtain the secret, or allow himself to be used in connection with it, he could make money enough to live like a lord in New York.
— from The Von Toodleburgs Or, The History of a Very Distinguished Family by F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams

I climbed each flight like a ladder in naked sky.
— from Alarms and Discursions by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

Teach them first to follow and to find gratification in following, and then they will gradually go of their own accord, if it agrees with them, and be less and less in need of guidance.
— from The Bride of Dreams by Frederik van Eeden

Burners almost invariably require more than their rated consumption of gas, and carbide is not of staple purity, and there should therefore be an assurance of sufficient quantity to last as long as light is needed.
— from Acetylene, the Principles of Its Generation and Use A Practical Handbook on the Production, Purification, and Subsequent Treatment of Acetylene for the Development of Light, Heat, and Power by W. J. Atkinson (William John Atkinson) Butterfield

The first of these three forms is, of course, the most tenacious; indeed, it is an incontestible fact that man, even when miserable, clings to life, and loves it not only when there is some vague hope of a brighter future, but even under its most distressing conditions.
— from The Philosophy of Disenchantment by Edgar Saltus

If the Americans love money, it is not for the sake of mere acquisition, but in order that they may give themselves up to the enjoyment of luxuries and launch into new speculations.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 23, April, 1876-September, 1876. A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various

It is possible to play at “ Rouge et Noir ” at Monte Carlo and win,—if you don’t play too long, and luck is not against you; but if you stick at it long enough, you are sure to lose.
— from Rambles on the Riviera by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield

It seems as if Providence, reserving every thing famous and remarkable for me, allowed little or nothing of consequence to happen to my father, who had few cruiks in his lot; at least I never learned, either from him or any other body, of any adventures likely seriously to interest the world at large.
— from The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith by D. M. (David Macbeth) Moir

A man has his life to live, and life is not over at twenty-five, even when one has lost father, fortune, and heart's desire.
— from The Prophet's Mantle by E. (Edith) Nesbit