Great Throughts Treasury

"Comin' through the rye, poor body, Comin' through the rye, She draigl't a' her petticoatie, Comin' through the rye . . . . Gin a body meet a body Comin' through the rye, Gin a body kiss a body Need a body cry?"

"Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair."

"Critics! Those cut-throat bandits in the paths of fame."

"Cursed be the man, the poorest wretch in life, The crouching vassal, to the tyrant wife, Who has no will but by her high permission; Who has not sixpence but in her possession; Who must to her his dear friend's secret tell; Who dreads a curtain lecture worse than hell. Were such the wife had fallen to my part, I'd break her spirit or I'd break her heart."

"Dare to be honest and fear no labor."

"Dearly bought the hidden treasure, finer feelings can bestow; chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure, thrill the deepest notes of woe."

"Drumossie moor ? Drumossie day ? A waefu' day it was to me! For there I lost my father dear, my father dear, and brethren three."

"Duncan Gray cam here to woo, Ha, ha, the wooing o't! On blithe Yuletide when we were fou, Ha, ha, the wooing o't! Maggie coost her head fu' high, Looked asklent and unco skeigh, Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh: Ha, ha! the wooing o't!"

"Dweller in yon dungeon dark, hangman of creation, mark! Who in widow weeds appears,"

"Even thou who mournst the daisy's fate, That fate is thine--no distant date; Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives, elate, Full on thy bloom, Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight Shall be thy doom!"

"Ev'n then a wish (I mind its power) a wish, that to my latest hour shall strongly heave my breast; that I for poor auld Scotland's sake some useful plan, or book could make, or sing a sang at least."

"Facts are cheels that winna ding, An' downs be disputed."

"Farewell, my friends! farewell, my foes! My peace with these, my love with those. The bursting tears my heart declare; Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr."

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, great Chieftan o' the Puddin-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, painch, tripe, or thairm: weel are ye wordy of a grace as lang's my arm."

"Firmness in enduring and exertion is a character I always wish to possess. I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint and cowardly resolve."

"Firmness, both in suffering and exertion, is a character which I would wish to possess. - I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint, and the cowardly feeble resolve."

"Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise. My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream, flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream."

"Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes, Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise."

"For a' that, and a' that an' twice as muckle 's a' that, I've lost but ane, I've twa behin', I've wife eneugh for a' that."

"For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syne!"

"Freedom and Whisky gang thegither!"

"From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs, that makes her loved at home, revered abroad: princes and lords are but the breath of kings, "An honest man's the noblest work of God.""

"G-- knows I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be, But twenty times I rather would be An atheist clean, Than under gospel colours hid be, Just for a screen."

"Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new."

"Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, that's a' the learning I desire."

"God knows, I'm no the thing I should be, nor am I even the thing I could be."

"Green grow the rashes, O; green grow the rashes, O; the sweetest hours that e'er I spend are spent among the lasses, O."

"Green, slender, leaf-clad holly boughs Were twisted gracefu' round her brows, I took her for some Scottish Muse, By that same token, An' come to stop those reckless vows, Would soon be broken."

"He turn'd him right and round about upon the Irish shore; and gae his bridle reins a shake, with adieu forevermore, My dear? And adieu forevermore!"

"He wales a portion with judicious care; and "Let us worship God" he says, with solemn air."

"Hear how he clears the points o' Faith Wi' rattling an' thumpin'! Now meekly calm, now wild in wrath, He's stampin', and he's jumpin'!"

"Hear, Land o' Cakes, and brither Scots, Frae Maidenkirk to Johnie Groat's;- If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it: A chield's amang you takin notes, And, faith, he'll prent it."

"Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn, that while a lassie she had worn, in longitude tho' sorely scanty, it was her best, and she was vauntie."

"His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony, Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither-- They had been fou for weeks thegither!"

"His lockŠd, lettered, braw brass collar showed him the gentleman an' scholar."

"His locked, lettered, braw brass collar, Shewed him the gentleman and scholar."

"Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing."

"How monie hearts this day converts, O' Sinners and o' Lasses! Their hearts o' stane, gin night are gane as saft as ony flesh is. There's some are fou o' love divine; there's some are fou o' brandy; an' monie jobs that day begin, may end in Houghmagandie some ither day."

"I could never pour out my inmost soul without reserve to any human being, without danger of one day repenting my confidence."

"I have a hundred times wished that one could resign life as an officer resigns a commission."

"I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint, and the cowardly feeble resolve."

"I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence."

"I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing: But, och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!"

"I was na fou, but just had plenty."

"If naebody care for me, I'll care for naebody."

"If there is another world, he lives in bliss. If there is none, he made the best of this."

"If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it; a chield's aman you takin' notes, and faith he'll prent it."

"If there's another world, he lives in bliss; if there is none, he made the best of this."

"Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear."

"I'll be merry and free, I'll be sad for nae-body; If nae-body cares for me, I'll care for nae-body."