Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

It is not the straining for great things that is most effective; it is the doing the little things, the common duties, a little better and better.

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

What an immense power over the life is the power of possessing distinct aims. The voice, the dress, the look, the very motion of a person, define and alter when he or she begins to live for a reason.

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Who originated that most exquisite of inquisitions, the condolence system?

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Happiness must be cultivated. It is like character. It is not a thing to be safely let alone for a moment, or it will run to weeds.

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

A great idea is usually original to more than one discoverer. Great ideas come when the world needs them. Great ideas surround the world's ignorance and press for admission.

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps