Great Throughts Treasury

"No dancing bear was so genteel, or half so dégagé."

"No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach."

"No traveler e'er reached that blest abode who found not thorns and briers in his road."

"No tree in all the grove but has its charms, though each its hue peculiar."

"No voice divine the storm allay'd, no light propitious shone; when, snatch'd from all effectual aid, we perish'd, each alone; but I beneath a rougher sea, and whelmed in deeper gulphs than he."

"No, freedom has a thousand charms to show that slaves, howe'er contented, never know."

"None but an author knows an author's cares, or fancy's fondness for the child she bears."

"Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, exhilarate the spirit, and restore the tone of languid nature."

"Nor sword nor spear the stripling took, but chose a pebble from the brook."

"Not a flower but shows some touch, in freckle, streak or stain, of his unrivall'd pencil. He inspires their balmy odors, and imparts their hues, and bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes in grains as countless as the seaside sands, the forms with which he sprinkles all the earth happy who walks with him!"

"Not rural sights alone, but rural sounds exhilarate the spirits, and restore the tone of languid nature. Mighty winds, that sweep the skirts of some far-spreading wood of ancient growth, make music not unlike the dash of ocean on his winding shore, and lull the spirit while they fill the mind."

"Not scorned in heaven, though little noticed here."

"Not to understand a treasure's worth till time has stolen away the slighted good, is cause of half the poverty we feel, and makes the world the wilderness it is."

"Now let us sing — long live the king, and gilpin, long live he; and, when he next doth ride abroad, may I be there to see!"

"Now stir the fire, and close the shudders fast, let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, and while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn throws up a steamy column, and the cups, that cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, so let us welcome peaceful evening in."

"O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame, A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made Thee mourn And drove Thee from my breast The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be, Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee. So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; So purer light shall mark the road That leads me to the Lamb."

"O for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of shade; where rumor of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful or successful war, might never reach me more."

"O popular applause! what heart of man is proof against thy sweet seducing charms? The wisest and the best feel urgent need of all their caution in thy gentlest gales; but swell'd into a gust - who then, alas! with all his canvas set, and inexpert, and therefore heedless, can withstand thy power?"

"O solitude! Where are the charms that sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms than reign in this horrible place."

"O that those lips had language! Life has passed with me but roughly since I heard thee last."

"O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof of undisturb'd Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know."

"O, popular applause! what heart of man is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms?"

"Obscurest night involv'd the sky, th' Atlantic billows roar'd, when such a destin'd wretch as I, wash'd headlong from on board, of friends, of hope, of all bereft, his floating home for ever left."

"Oh for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame; a light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb!"

"Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of shade, where rumor of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful or successful war, might never reach me more."

"Oh let me then at length be taught what I am still so slow to learn that god is love, and changes not, nor knows the shadow of a turn."

"Oh that those lips had language! Life has passed with me but roughly since I heard thee last."

"Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me anymore."

"Oh! Let me then at length be taught what I am still so slow to learn; that god is love, and changes not, nor knows the shadow of a turn."

"Oh, for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of shade, where rumour of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful or successful war,"

"Oh, friendly to the best pursuits of man, friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace, domestic life in rural leisure passed! few know thy value, and few taste thy sweets."

"Oh, laugh or mourn with me the rueful jest, a cassocked huntsman and a fiddling priest!"

"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."

"Oh, popular applause! What heart of man is proof against thy sweet seducing charms? The wisest and the best feel urgent need of all their caution in thy gentlest gales; but swell'd into a gust--who then, alas! With all his canvas set, and inexpert, and therefore, heedless, can withstand thy power?"

"On the summit see, the seals of office glitter in his eyes; he climbs, he pants, he grasps them! At his heels, close at his heels, a demagogue ascends, and with a dexterous jerk soon twists him down, and wins them, but to lose them in his turn."

"Once more I would adopt the graver style -- a teacher should be sparing of his smile."

"One leg by truth supported, one by lies, they sidle to the goal with awkward pace, secure of nothing -- but to lose the race."

"One leg by truth supported, one by lies, they sidle to the goal with awkward pace, secure of nothing --"

"Our severest winter, commonly called the spring."

"Our wasted oil unprofitably burns, like hidden lamps in old sepulchral urns."

"Out love is principle, and has its root in reason, is judicious, manly, free."

"Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere, and we too wise to trust them"

"Perhaps thou gav'st me, though unseen, a kiss; perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss."

"Pernicious weed! Whose scent the fair annoys unfriendly to society's chief joys, thy worst effect is banishing for hours the sex whose presence civilizes ours."

"Philologists who chase a panting syllable through time and space, start it at home, and hunt it in the dark, to Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark."

"Pity! Religion has so seldom found a skillful guide into poetic ground! The flowers would spring where'er she deign'd to stray and every muse attend her in her way."

"Pleasure is labor too, and tires as much."

"Poetical reports of law cases are not very common, yet it seems to me desirable that they should be so. Many advantages would accrue from such a measure. They would, in the first place, be more commonly deposited in the memory, just as linen, grocery, or other such matters, when neatly packed, are known to occupy less room, and to lie more conveniently in any trunk, chest, or box to which they may be committed. In the next place, being divested of that infinite circumlocution, and the endless embarrassment in which they are involved by it, they would become surprisingly intelligible in comparison with their present obscurity."

"Poor England! Thou art a devoted deer, beset with every ill but that of fear. The nations hunt; all mock thee for a prey; they swarm around thee, and thou stand'st at bay."

"Poor jack,--no matter who,--for when I blame I pity, and must therefore sink the name,-- liv'd in his saddle, lov'd the chase, the course, and always ere he mounted, kiss'd his horse."