“Remember that when you write from the heart, it will go to the hearts of your readers: and when you write from your head it will go no lower than the head.”

Her memorable distinction between emotional sincerity and purely intellectual writing · A Woman of the World

• Readers
• Sincerity
• Writing

“Nothing quite the same was ever in any heart before, and yet the greater part of it has been in all hearts, and will be in all hearts, so long as the world lasts.”

Capturing the paradox of individual experience and universal human feeling · A Woman of the World

• Humanity
• Originality
• Writing

“Proceed, my young friend, and write what is in your heart.”

A direct encouragement to young writers to trust their own material · A Woman of the World

• Courage
• Creativity
• Writing

“Why should any mortal say to the poet or the author, 'Do not try to write—it has all been said before.”

Defending the writer's right to revisit enduring subjects in a new voice · A Woman of the World

• Creativity
• Originality
• Writing

“There is nothing new under the sun, but there is always the new audience.”

A defence of creating new work from familiar themes for new generations · A Woman of the World

• Originality
• Readers
• Writing

“Push on! Achieve, achieve!”

A characteristically energetic exhortation to persistence and accomplishment · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Achievement
• Motivation
• Perseverance

“Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious year lies before you.”

Encouraging an expansive sense of possibility at the beginning of a new period · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Hope
• Possibility
• Success

“Think of your body as the silver jewel box, your mind as the silk lining, your spirit as the gem.”

A memorable metaphor placing spiritual value above outward appearance · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Beauty
• Body
• Spirit

“Anticipate good health. If it does not come at once, consider it a mere temporary delay, and continue to expect it.”

An example of her strongly optimistic approach to adversity · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Health
• Hope
• Perseverance

“Do not tell me it is too late to be successful or happy. Do not tell me you are sick or broken in spirit, the spirit cannot be sick or broken, because it is of God.”

A forceful rejection of hopelessness and the idea that happiness has an expiry date · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Faith
• Happiness
• Hope

“The really reverent soul accepts its sorrows as blessings in disguise.”

Presenting adversity as capable of deepening the individual · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Faith
• Growth
• Sorrow

“He who understands his own divine nature will grow more beautiful with the passing of time.”

Defining enduring beauty as an inward rather than merely physical quality · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Beauty
• Spirituality

“He who loves God and mankind, cannot become dried and withered at fifty, for love will re-create his blood, and renew the fires of his eye.”

Linking love with continued emotional vitality in later life · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Love
• Vitality

“He who in truth trusts God cannot worry.”

Expressing her conviction that genuine faith should diminish anxiety · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Anxiety
• Faith
• Trust

“He is like the orthodox Christian who mumbles through the Lord's Prayer and then goes forth to do exactly as he would not be done by.”

A pointed criticism of the gap between professed beliefs and behaviour · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Behaviour
• Hypocrisy
• Religion

“It is the merest waste of time for this man to read 'New Thought' literature or practice 'deep breathing', since he will not put into daily and hourly practice what is taught.”

Insisting that philosophy has little value without practical application · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Action
• Philosophy
• Practice

“It is worth many dollars to any one who will live its philosophy.”

Valuing ideas according to whether they are actually practised · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Action
• Ideas
• Values

“The world is full of 'New Thought' Literature. It is helpful and inspiring to read.”

Her direct endorsement of literature as a source of inspiration and practical guidance · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Inspiration
• Literature
• Reading

“The longer we live the more we should realize the folly and vulgarity of ill-temper.”

Connecting maturity with greater emotional restraint · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Anger
• Character

“Instead of wasting our time in bemoaning the loss of early opportunities for obtaining an education, let us devote ourselves to the cultivation of wisdom.”

Turning regret about missed opportunities into a reason for continued learning · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Education
• Regret
• Wisdom

“We need to begin at thirty to be tolerant, patient, serene, trustful, sympathetic and liberal.”

Describing maturity as something that must be deliberately cultivated · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Growth
• Tolerance

“The education for old age needs fully as many years.”

Arguing that growing old well requires deliberate lifelong preparation · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Education
• Preparation

“After thirty we must seize every hour and educate ourselves to grow into agreeable old age.”

Treating later life as a period requiring active preparation and learning · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Age
• Growth
• Learning

“We must keep moving with the world or stand still and solitary.”

Arguing that continued engagement with change prevents isolation · Essay, The Heart of the New Thought

• Change
• Isolation
• Society