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I simply look upon them with contempt for their poorness of character.
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“I simply look upon them with contempt for their poorness of character.”

Elizabeth Gaskell

Source
North and South
Date
1855
Meaning

Meaning of “I simply look upon them with contempt for…”

Thornton distinguishes his response to self-indulgence from hatred, revealing the severe ethic of self-denial through which he judges character.

Source context

Where does it come from?

North and South, represented by Project Gutenberg #4276. John Thornton speaks this sentence while recounting family hardship and the disciplined habits his mother taught him; it is historically situated fictional characterization, not Gaskell issuing a universal moral ranking.

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CalmDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyGrowthPatiencePeaceResponsibilitySelf ImprovementSelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite Reflection
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Time is what we want most, but what, alas! we use worst;
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“Time is what we want most, but what, alas! we use worst;”

William Penn · Some Fruits of Solitude · 1693
Meaning & context

Penn argues that time is indispensable yet commonly spent carelessly, making attention to its use a central responsibility in the conduct of life.

Source details

Some Fruits of Solitude, Preface, reviewed against the Oxford Text Archive transcription of the licensed 1693 edition. Penn says time is what people want most but use worst and immediately frames stewardship of time in explicitly religious accountability to God, neighbour and self; it remains Quaker conduct-of-life reflection rather than productivity research.

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Freedom resides in individual self-conquest.
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“Freedom resides in individual self-conquest.”

James Allen · All These Things Added · 1903
Meaning & context

Within Allen’s spiritual argument, freedom begins with mastery of impulses and ignorance before it can be discussed as an outward condition.

Source details

All These Things Added (1903), Part II, “The Heavenly Life,” chapter “Perfect Freedom,” printed page 139 / Wikisource scan leaf 145. “Freedom resides in individual self-conquest” appears in Allen’s contrast between outward agitation and the inward emancipation he associates with mastery of passion, error and ignorance; this remains his spiritual-moral conception of freedom, not a modern political definition.

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The foundation of success in life is good health.
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“The foundation of success in life is good health.”

P. T. Barnum · The Art of Money Getting · 1880
Meaning & context

Achievement is treated as dependent on the physical capacity to work, think, and sustain effort rather than as a purely financial or professional matter.

Source details

The Art of Money Getting; Barnum places health before the business maxims that follow.

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work is only done well when it is done with a will
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“work is only done well when it is done with a will”

John Ruskin · The Crown of Wild Olive · 1866
Meaning & context

Ruskin links quality with willing engagement: merely being compelled to perform a task is not, in his argument, enough to produce work done with judgment and commitment.

Source details

The Crown of Wild Olive, lecture on Work; Project Gutenberg #26716. The sentence occurs in a discussion of how hard work should be organized and chosen; its period labor assumptions remain contextualized.

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Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.
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“Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Epictetus · Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125 CE
Meaning & context

Repeated behavior trains the corresponding habit, so change depends on practicing the desired action rather than merely endorsing it in theory.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This collection lightly normalizes Long’s “any thing” to “anything”; this longer record contains the shorter retained habit excerpt represented by a separate legacy quote URL.

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And let your self-respect forbid you to do imperfectly anything that you do at all.
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“And let your self-respect forbid you to do imperfectly anything that you do at all.”

Margaret Fuller · Woman in the Nineteenth Century · 1845
Meaning & context

Self-respect becomes a standard for workmanship: valuing oneself should appear not only in feeling but in the care brought to responsibilities and chosen work.

Source details

Woman in the Nineteenth Century and Kindred Papers; the sentence appears in advice about practical education, precision, and the development of the whole person.