By nominating Chuck Hagel to be his Defense secretary President Obama is putting forward an aloof contrarian who doesn't suffer fools - a striving politician who considers himself above politics.

It is not to be disguised that a war has broken out between the North and the South. - Political and commercial men are industriously striving to restore peace: but the peace which they would effect is superficial false and temporary.

Patriotism consists not in waving the flag but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.

I was striving to be the most muscular man and it got me into the movies. It got me everything that I have.

When you awaken some morning and hear that somebody or other has been discovered you can put it down as a fact that he discovered himself years ago - since that time he has been toiling working and striving to make himself worthy of general discovery.

All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy selfish and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young compassionate with the aged sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting.

After a century of striving after a year of debate after a historic vote health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.

When you're happy you find pure joy in your life. There are no regrets in this state of happiness - and that's a goal worth striving for in all areas of your life.