Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

John Armstrong

Scottish Journalist and Poet

"Virtue and sense are one; and, trust me, still a faithless heart betrays the head unsound."

"A faithless heart betrays the head unsound."

"Know then, whatever cheerful and serene supports the mind, supports the body too; hence, the most vital movement mortals feel is hope, the balm and lifeblood of the soul."

"Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, is the best gift of heaven; a happiness that, even above the smiles and frowns of fate, exalts great Nature’s favorites; a wealth that ne’er encumbers, nor can be transferr’d."

"Music exalts each joy, allays each grief, expels diseases, softens every pain, subdues the rage and poison and of plague."

"There is, they say, (and I believe there is), a spark within us of th’ immortal fire, that animates and moulds the grosser frame; and when the body sinks, escapes to heaven; its native seat, and mixes with the gods."