What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Additional Information: This popular quote is often incorrectly attributed to a number of people, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. However, the earliest appearance of this quote was in an anonymous book called Meditations in Wall Street (1940), which contained a collection of aphorisms. The New York Times revealed the author of the book, disgraced former securities trader Henry S. Haskins, in 1947. The meaning of the quote is that your past and future circumstances are not important as your character; no matter what setbacks you've faced or challenges that lie ahead, you can succeed if you have inner strength.