As years passed away I have formed the habit of looking back upon that former self as upon another person, the remembrance of whose emotions has been a solace in adversity and added zest to the enjoyment of prosperity.

The beginning of 1856 found me teaching in the family of a planter named Bryan, residing in Prince George County, Md., some fifteen or twenty miles from Washington.

I finally reached the conclusion that mathematics was the study I was best fitted to follow, though I did not clearly see in what way I should turn the subject to account.

We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy.

As the existence of a corps of professors of mathematics is peculiar to our navy, as well as an apparent, perhaps a real, anomaly, some account of it may be of interest.

My first undertaking in the way of scientific experiment was in the field of economics and psychology.

A suggestion had been made to me looking toward a professorship in some Western college, but after due consideration, I declined to consider the matter.

Quite likely the twentieth century is destined to see the natural forces which will enable us to fly from continent to continent with a speed far exceeding that of a bird.

Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world to see an eclipse, clouds prevent a sight of it; and yet a sense of relief accompanies the disappointment.

As years passed away I have formed the habit of looking back upon that former self as upon another person, the remembrance of whose emotions has been a solace in adversity and added zest to the enjoyment of prosperity.

If my impressions are correct, our educational planing mill cuts down all the knots of genius, and reduces the best of the men who go through it to much the same standard.

What we now call school training, the pursuit of fixed studies at stated hours under the constant guidance of a teacher, I could scarcely be said to have enjoyed.

My father followed, during most of his life, the precarious occupation of a country school teacher.

One hardly knows where, in the history of science, to look for an important movement that had its effective start in so pure and simple an accident as that which led to the building of the great Washington telescope, and went on to the discovery of the satellites of Mars.

My father was the most rational and the most dispassionate of men.

The time was not yet ripe for the growth of mathematical science among us, and any development that might have taken place in that direction was rudely stopped by the civil war.

In 1858 I received the degree of D. S. from the Lawrence Scientific School, and thereafter remained on the rolls of the university as a resident graduate.

Whenever a total eclipse of the sun was visible in an accessible region parties were sent out to observe it.

Until I was four years old I lived in the house of my paternal grandfather, about two miles from the pretty little village of Wallace, at the mouth of the river of that name.

Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.

I had not yet gotten into the world of light. But I felt as one who, standing outside, could knock against the wall and hear an answering knock from within.

The result was that, if it happened to clear off after a cloudy evening, I frequently arose from my bed at any hour of the night or morning and walked two miles to the observatory to make some observation included in the programme.

So far as the economic condition of society and the general mode of living and thinking were concerned, I might claim to have lived in the time of the American Revolution.

The reports of the eclipse parties not only described the scientific observations in great detail, but also the travels and experiences, and were sometimes marked by a piquancy not common in official documents.

Aerial flight is one of that class of problems with which men will never have to cope.

In 1860 a total eclipse of the sun was visible in British America.

When about fifteen I once made a great scandal by taking out my knife in prayer meeting and assaulting a young man who, while I was kneeling down during the prayer, stood above me and squeezed my neck.

Though born in Nova Scotia, I am of almost pure New England descent.

In October, 1865, occurred what was, in my eyes, the greatest event in the history of the observatory. The new transit circle arrived from Berlin in its boxes.

As years passed away I have formed the habit of looking back upon that former self as upon another person the remembrance of whose emotions has been a solace in adversity and added zest to the enjoyment of prosperity.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself-always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.

Nothing is harder to direct than a man in prosperity; nothing more easily managed that one is adversity.

Something called 'the Oklahoma Standard' became known throughout the world. It means resilience in the face of adversity. It means a strength and compassion that will not be defeated.

Three hundred years ago a prisoner condemned to the Tower of London carved on the wall of his cell this sentiment to keep up his spirits during his long imprisonment: 'It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity.

It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.

By adversity are wrought the greatest works of admiration, and all the fair examples of renown, out of distress and misery are grown.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.

There is in every woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.

Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist: it reduces him to his fighting weight.

You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

I'm used to adversity and working really well in difficult situations. It was hard for me to accept the success.

Weak minds sink under prosperity as well as adversity; but strong and deep ones have two high tides.

The firmest of friendships have been formed in mutual adversity, as iron is most strongly united by the fiercest flame.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.

A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.