Source identified
“Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make.”
The advice links resolution with prompt action, arguing that intentions shape habit more effectively when they are converted into behavior at the first available opportunity.
Source note: Talks To Teachers, chapter on Habit; Project Gutenberg #16287. This is the opening clause of James’s third habit-forming maxim; the longer sentence also refers to emotional promptings toward desired habits.
Source identified
“Little strokes fell great oaks.”
Small repeated efforts can accomplish work that seems too large for a single burst of effort, making consistency itself a practical form of strength.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about cumulative effort.
Source identified
“The worth of work with the hands”
Washington opens the book by treating manual work as capable of contributing to education, dignity and practical development rather than merely supplying labor.
Source note: Working With the Hands, Chapter I, opening sentence; Project Gutenberg #64504. This deliberately short excerpt is presented with its educational context.
Source identified
“the man who strives to be better”
The comparison values active moral improvement above craving public praise, locating greater life in the direction of one’s striving rather than external applause.
Source note: Unspoken Sermons; Project Gutenberg #9057. The short excerpt comes from a longer explicitly theological hierarchy of forms of life and must be read in that religious setting.
Source identified
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
Persistent effort improves the odds of useful results because steady work creates more opportunities for progress than waiting for favorable circumstances.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim appears in Franklin’s collected Poor Richard material.
Source identified
“The foundation of success in life is good health.”
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 note: The Art of Money Getting; Barnum places health before the business maxims that follow.