I love to collect inspirational quotations. I even subscribe to an email Inspirational Quote of the Day. Today’s inspirational quote:

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
— Robert Fulghum
(author of All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarden)

Another favorite of mine:

It is never too late to be who you might have been.–George Eliot

This got me thinking to search for some inspirational quotes from “our” era, the Regency:

Let’s start with–who else?

“There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere.”
–Jane Austen (Mansfield Park)

Here’s another:

“Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.”
–Duke of Wellington

This one will surprise you:

“The highest of distinctions is service to others.”
–King George IV

The Poets:

“He ne’er is crowned with immortality Who fears to follow where airy voices lead.”
–John Keats

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.”
–Lord Byron
(It was hard to find a quote of his that was not pessimistic or cynical)

“I can give you a six-word formula for success: ‘Think things through – then follow through.'”
–Sir Walter Scott

The Brontes:

“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.”
–Charlotte Bronte

“I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.”
–Emily Bronte

“But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.”
–Anne Bronte

What are your favorite inspirational quotes or quotes from the Regency?

(The painting is The Artist in the Character of Design Listening to the Inspiration of Poetry by Angelica Kauffmann 1741-1807)