Quote

It is not easy for men to rise whose qualities are thwarted by poverty.

We all want merit to mean something, and we all may be tempted to reduce that meaning to something measurable and concrete like an SAT score. The reality, though, is that who deserves entry into an institution depends on what the institution exists to do.

It goes without saying that it's hard to attain a certain level of success.

No student ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him: it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.

All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.

All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.

The sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient.

I know of no higher fortitude than stubborness in the face of overwhelming odds.

To many a man, and sometimes to a youth, there comes the opportunity to choose between honorable competence and tainted wealth. The young man who starts out to be poor and honorable, holds in his hand one of the strongest elements of success.