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“though the ways in which I can make myself useful are few, yet the work open to me is endless.”
Keller separates the number of available ways to contribute from the amount of meaningful work still possible within those ways.
Source note: Optimism: An Essay (1903), Project Gutenberg #31622. The statement is autobiographical and tied to Keller’s own assessment of disability and useful work.
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“My share in the work of the world may be limited; but the fact that it is work makes it precious.”
Keller values participation in useful work even when her individual share is limited, locating dignity in contribution rather than scale alone.
Source note: Optimism: An Essay (1903), Project Gutenberg #31622. The sentence precedes her statement that the desire and will to work is optimism itself.
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“I love the good that others do; for their activity is an assurance that whether I can help or not, the true and the good will stand sure.”
Keller finds reassurance in useful activity performed by other people, allowing appreciation of shared good to coexist with limits on her own contribution.
Source note: Optimism: An Essay (1903), Project Gutenberg #31622. The line follows her discussion of many “tiny pushes” by honest workers.
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“Life is a boundless privilege.”
The sentence frames existence as abundant possibility rather than mere duration, encouraging attention to what can still be learned, attempted, appreciated, and created.
Source note: The Conduct of Life; Emerson uses the line while describing life as an expanding field of experience rather than a narrowly fixed allotment.
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“By being happy, we sow anonymous benefits upon the world”
The essay treats visible good spirits as a diffuse social contribution whose effects may reach other people without the cheerful person ever knowing where they landed.
Source note: “An Apology for Idlers,” 1877; evidence text in Project Gutenberg editions. The sentence belongs to Stevenson’s broader defense of leisure and sociability against relentless busyness.
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“Grow into the habit of talking about the bright side of life.”
Washington presents constructive speech as a cultivated habit rather than an automatic temperament, while the surrounding lecture still acknowledges life’s darker side.
Source note: Character Building, “Two Sides of Life,” Project Gutenberg #60484. The advice belongs to a longer argument against habitual discouraging talk.