“All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.”

“It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

“It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”

Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Former Indian Finance Minister, Freedom Fighters, Former prime minister

“God, grant us men to see in a small thing principles which are common things both small and great.”
Deus, dona hominibus videre in parvo communes notitias rerum parvarum atque magnarum.

Aurelius Augustinus book Confessions

“560. All things are difficult, before they are easy.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

“Child, you have to learn to see things in the right proportions. Learn to see great things great and small things small.”

Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch resistance hero and writer

“How strangely easy difficult things are!”

Charles Buxton (1823–1871) English brewer, philanthropist, writer and politician

“He [Marcus Aurelius]… plainly distinguishes between Matter, Material things, and Cause, Origin, Reason. This is conformable to Zeno's doctrine that there are two original principles of all things, that which acts and that which is acted upon. That which is acted on is the formless matter: that which acts is the reason, God, who is eternal and operates through all matter, and produces all things.”

George Long (1800–1879) English classical scholar

“There is a time for some things, and a time for all things; a time for great things, and a time for small things.”

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright

“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author