It’s very likely you’ve come across many Elbert Hubbard quotes before. He is one of the most quotable figures in history.
Elbert Hubbard was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Even though he died at the age of 58 in 1915 his timeless wisdom and philosophies still echo to the present day.
His early success come as a travelling salesman for the Larkin Soap Company however Hubbard is known best as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an influential exponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
As you’ll see from the Elbert Hubbard quotes below it’s hard to dispute that a lot of what he said was great advice for living a successful life and being a productive member of society.
101 Top Elbert Hubbard Quotes
1. “Success is the most natural thing in the world. The person who does not succeed has placed himself in opposition to the laws of the Universe.” – Elbert Hubbard
2. “Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time, manifested over years, not weeks.” – Elbert Hubbard
3. “Success consists in the climb.” – Elbert Hubbard
4. “Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.” – Elbert Hubbard
5. “All success consists in this: You are doing something for somebody – benefiting humanity – and the feeling of success comes from the consciousness of this.” – Elbert Hubbard
6. “The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.” – Elbert Hubbard
7. “Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.” – Elbert Hubbard
8. “To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing” – Elbert Hubbard
9. “Be pleasant until ten o’clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.” – Elbert Hubbard
10. “The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one.” – Elbert Hubbard
11. “We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.” – Elbert Hubbard
12. “It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.” – Elbert Hubbard
13. “We are not punished for our sins, but by them.” – Elbert Hubbard
14. “The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.” – Elbert Hubbard
15. “Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant – the digitalis of failure.” – Elbert Hubbard
16. “Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.” – Elbert Hubbard
17. “Responsibility is the price of freedom.” – Elbert Hubbard
18. “The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.” – Elbert Hubbard
19. “No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day.” – Elbert Hubbard
20. “Live truth instead of professing it.” – Elbert Hubbard
21. “I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.” – Elbert Hubbard
22. “The thing we fear we bring to pass.” – Elbert Hubbard
23. “Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things.” – Elbert Hubbard
24. “A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience.” – Elbert Hubbard
25. “Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true.” – Elbert Hubbard
26. “A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.” – Elbert Hubbard
27. “In order to have friends, you must first be one.” – Elbert Hubbard
28. “Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority.” – Elbert Hubbard
29. “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard
30. “Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition.” – Elbert Hubbard
31. “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard
32. “Never explain – your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.” – Elbert Hubbard
33. “The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work.” – Elbert Hubbard
34. “The supernatural is the natural not yet understood.” – Elbert Hubbard
35. “Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.” – Elbert Hubbard
36. “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.” – Elbert Hubbard
37. “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” – Elbert Hubbard
38. “Life in abundance comes only through great love.” – Elbert Hubbard
39. “It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.” – Elbert Hubbard
40. “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Elbert Hubbard
41. “Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.” – Elbert Hubbard
42. “The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner.” – Elbert Hubbard
43. “Men are only as great as they are kind.” – Elbert Hubbard
44. “He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.” – Elbert Hubbard
45. “There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.” – Elbert Hubbard
46. “The man who has no problems is out of the game.” – Elbert Hubbard
47. “The man who knows it can’t be done counts the risk, not the reward.” – Elbert Hubbard
48. “Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for anymore than they do.” – Elbert Hubbard
49. “Where parents do too much for their children, the children will not do much for themselves.” – Elbert Hubbard
50. “The path of least resistance is what makes rivers run crooked.” – Elbert Hubbard
51. “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.” – Elbert Hubbard
52. “We find what we expect to find, and we receive what we ask for.” – Elbert Hubbard
53. “Money never made a fool of anybody; it only shows them up.” – Elbert Hubbard
54. “Genius is often only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it—so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success. As the tide goes clear out, so it comes clear in. In business sometimes prospects may seem darkest when really they are on the turn. A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.” – Elbert Hubbard
55. “What others say of me matters little, what I myself say and do matters much.” – Elbert Hubbard
56. “People who are able to do their own thinking should not allow others to do it for them.” – Elbert Hubbard
57. “If you want work well done, select a busy man; the other kind has no time.” – Elbert Hubbard
58. “Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones of genius.” – Elbert Hubbard
59. “Some men succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are.” – Elbert Hubbard
60. “Luck is tenacity of purpose.” – Elbert Hubbard
61.”Your friend is who man who knows all about you, and still likes you.” – Elbert Hubbard
62. “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.” – Elbert Hubbard
63. “Everything comes too late for those who only wait.” – Elbert Hubbard
64. “Some men can get results if kindly encouraged, but give me the kind that do things in spite of hell.” – Elbert Hubbard
65. “Man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is.” – Elbert Hubbard
66. “Business is a fight, a continual struggle, just as life is.” – Elbert Hubbard
67. “A goal without a plan is a dream.” – Elbert Hubbard
68. “Happiness is a habit—cultivate it.” – Elbert Hubbard
69. “Freedom cannot be bestowed – it must be achieved.” – Elbert Hubbard
70. “Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you.” – Elbert Hubbard
71. “No man ever did or can do a great work alone.” – Elbert Hubbard
72. “Victory; a matter of staying power.” – Elbert Hubbard
73. “The reward of a good deed is in having done it.” – Elbert Hubbard
74. “Thoroughness characterizes all successful men. Genius is the art of taking infinite pains. All great achievement has been characterized by extreme care, infinite painstaking, even to the minutest detail.” – Elbert Hubbard
75. “Of all the mental and physical polluters of life, nothing exercises such a poisonous effect as fear.” – Elbert Hubbard
76. “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.” – Elbert Hubbard
77. “The secret of salvation is this: keep sweet, be useful, and keep busy.” – Elbert Hubbard
78. “The art of winning in business is in working hard – not taking things too seriously.” – Elbert Hubbard
79. “We work to become, not to acquire.” – Elbert Hubbard
80. “The cure for grief is motion.” – Elbert Hubbard
81. “No matter how long you live, die young.” – Elbert Hubbard
82. “To make mistakes is human, but to profit from them is divine.” – Elbert Hubbard
83. “Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.” – Elbert Hubbard
84. “An ounce of performance is worth more than a pound of preachment.” – Elbert Hubbard
85. “Nothing is permanent but change.” – Elbert Hubbard
86. “I would rather have a big burden and a strong back, than a weak back and a caddy to carry life’s luggage.” – Elbert Hubbard
87. “Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others.” – Elbert Hubbard
88. “He who influences the thought of his times influences the times that follow.” – Elbert Hubbard
89. “Freedom is a condition of mind, and the best way to secure it is to breed it.” – Elbert Hubbard
90. “Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber.” – Elbert Hubbard
91. “Impossible things are simply those which so far have never been done.” – Elbert Hubbard
92. “Strong men can always afford to be gentle. Only the weak are intent on giving as good as they get.” – Elbert Hubbard
93. “If I supply you with a thought, you may remember it and you may not. But if I can make you think a thought for yourself, I have indeed added to your stature.” – Elbert Hubbard
94. “Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is.” – Elbert Hubbard
95. “As a rule, the man who can do all things equally well is a very mediocre individual.” – Elbert Hubbard
96. “As we grow better, we meet better people.” – Elbert Hubbard
97. “One great, strong, unselfish soul in every community would actually redeem the world.” – Elbert Hubbard
98. “Opportunities for education should be within the reach of every individual, not for the lucky few.” – Elbert Hubbard
99. “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!” – Elbert Hubbard
100. “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.” – Elbert Hubbard
101. “Don’t make excuses, make good.” – Elbert Hubbard
Did you find these Elbert Hubbart Quotes inspiring?
Which Elbert Hubbard quote is your favourite? Let me know in the comments and please share this post to help and inspire others.
