Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American poet, 1807-1882
27 quotes.
Quotes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child.
- All things come round to him who will but wait.
- As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so change of studies a dull brain.
- Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful bird-cages and tooth-picks if his brain had not been so full of ideas of chivalry. Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
- Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm.
- Give what you have. To some one it may be better than you dare to think.
- If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
- If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
- In character, in manner, in style, in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity.
- In this world a man must be either a hammer or an anvil.
- Look not mournfully into the past--it comes not back again; wisely improve the present--it is thine; go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.
- Love gives itself, but is not bought.
- Many men do not allow their principles to take root, but pull them up every now and then, as children do the flowers they have planted, to see if they are growing.
- Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
- Nature is a revelation of God; art is a revelation of man.
- Not in the clamour of the crowded street, Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
- Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
- Silence is a great peacemaker.
- Sometimes we may learn more from a man’s errors, than from his virtues.
- Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.
- Success is not something to wait for, it is something to work for.
- The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night.
- The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.
- The mighty pyramids of stone That wedge-like cleave the desert airs, When nearer seen, and better known, Are but gigantic flights of stairs.
- The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.
- The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well; and doing well whatever you do, without a thought of fame.
- We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.