105 Elbert Hubbard Quotes from the Founder of Roycroft

Elbert Green Hubbard, an American editor, publisher and author, is best known for his moralistic essay, “A Message to Garcia.”

After working as a freelance newspaperman and in sales and advertising, Hubbard retired and founded his Roycroft Press in 1893.

Inspired by William Morris’ Kelmscott Press, Hubbard’s press issued monthly “Little Journey” booklets, interweaving factual biographies with commentary and satire.

Elbert Hubbard

He also wrote The Philistine, an avant-garde magazine. Hubbard highlighted the importance of perseverance in “A Message to Garcia,” which appeared in an 1899 edition of The Philistine.

He began publishing a second monthly, The Fra, in 1908. Hubbard’s writings, which mixed radicalism and conservatism in an energetic, epigrammatic style, have been collected in the volumes Little Journeys and Selected Writings.

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He tragically died in the sinking of the Lusitania.

Below you will find some of the most famous quotes by Elbert Hubbard.


Best Elbert Hubbard Quotes

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Freedom cannot be bestowed – it must be achieved. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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The greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making one. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Make two grins grow where there was only a grouch before. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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The reward of a good deed is in having done it. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Life is a compromise between fate and free will. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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It is the weak man who urges compromise – never the strong man. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

There is no failure except the failure of trying. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Life is just one damned thing after another. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Positive anything is better than negative nothing. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Responsibility is the price of freedom. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Famous Elbert Hubbard Quotes

Strong men can always afford to be gentle. Only the weak are intent on giving as good as they get. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Man creates both his god and his devil in his own image. His god is himself at his best, and his devil himself at his worst. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

We work to become, not to acquire. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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The supernatural is the natural not yet understood. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

True life lies in laughter, love and work. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Fear clogs; Faith liberates. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Inspiring Elbert Hubbard Quotes

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Be pleasant until ten o’clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The only man who makes money following the races is one who does it with a broom and shovel. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Inspirational Elbert Hubbard Quotes

The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The cheerful loser is the winner. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Men are only as great as they are kind. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all? ~ Elbert Hubbard.

It is the weak man who urges compromise – never the strong man. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The secret of success is this: there is no secret of success. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Happiness is a habit – cultivate it. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Motivational Elbert Hubbard Quotes

Man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

All good men are anarchists. All cultured, kindly men; all gentlemen; all just men are anarchists. Jesus was an anarchist. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

A school should not be a preparation for life. A school should be life. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time, manifested over years, not weeks. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Don’t make excuses, make good. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Top Elbert Hubbard Quotes

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.

He who influences the thought of his times influences the times that follow. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Do not dump your woes upon people – keep the sad story of your life to yourself. Troubles grow by recounting them. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Everything comes too late for those who only wait. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

We never ask God to forgive anybody except when we haven’t. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

What people need and what they want may be very different. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

A goal without a plan is a dream. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Every quarrel begins in nothing and ends in a struggle for supremacy. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Fences are made for those who cannot fly. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If you work for a man, in Heaven’s name work for him! If he pays you wages that supply your bread and butter, work for him, stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Great Elbert Hubbard Quotes

Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The art of winning in business is in working hard – not taking things too seriously. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

It is only life and love that give love and life. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Life is a checkerboard, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision! ~ Elbert Hubbard.

No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Wise Elbert Hubbard Quotes

Self-control is the ability to restrain a laugh at the wrong place. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones to genius. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Growth is often a painful process. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Thoroughness characterizes all successful men. Genius is the art of taking infinite pains. All great achievement has been characterized by extreme care, infinite painstaking, even to the minutest detail. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

No man ever did or can do a great work alone. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it: so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Powerful Elbert Hubbard Quotes

Never explain – your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Whom the gods love die young no matter how long they live. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

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In order to have friends, you must first be one. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

I do not read a book; I hold a conversation with the author. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

We are punished by our sins, not for them. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Victory; a matter of staying power. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Thought-Provoking Elbert Hubbard Quotes

The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

The cure for grief is motion. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

An enemy is anyone who tells the truth about you. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If you want work well done, select a busy man – the other kind has no time. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

God is good, there is no devil but fear. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Life is a paradox. Every truth has its counterpart which contradicts it; and every philosopher supplies the logic his own undoing. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

History: gossip well told. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Orthodoxy is a corpse that doesn’t know it’s dead. ~ Elbert Hubbard.

If you can’t answer a man’s arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names. ~ Elbert Hubbard.


So these were the 105 top Elbert Hubbard quotes and sayings about work and friendship.

If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on E. M. Forster quotes and Edwin Louis Cole quotes.

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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar