Great Throughts Treasury

"The reward of suffering is experience."

"The seaman tells stories of winds, the ploughman of bulls; the soldier details his wounds, the shepherd his sheep."

"The sight of blood to crowds begets the thirst of more, as the first wine-cup leads to the long revel."

"The silver light, which, hallowing tree and tower, Sheds beauty and deep softness o'er the whole, Breathes also to the heart, and o'er it throws A loving languor which is not repose."

"The simple Wordsworth . . . Who, both by precept and example, shows that prose is verse, and verse is merely prose."

"The sky spreads like an ocean hung on high, Bespangled with those isles of light so wildly, spiritually bright. Whoever gaz'd upon them shining, and turn'd to earth without repining, nor wish'd for wings to flee away, and mix with their eternal ray?"

"The ship from Ceylon, Inde, or far Cathay, unloads for him the fragrant produce of each trip."

"The spirit burning but unbent, May writhe, rebel - the weak alone repent!"

"The sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast. And the heart must pause to breathe, and love itself have rest."

"The tenor's voice is spoilt by affectation, And for the bass, the beast can only bellow; In fact, he had no singing education, An ignorant, noteless, timeless, tuneless fellow"

"The stars are forth, the moon above the tops o the snow-shining mountains--beautiful! I linger yet with nature, for the night hath been to me a more familiar face than that of man, and in her starry shade of dim and solitary loveliness I learned the language of another world."

"The torture we desire is the greatest of all."

"The thorns which I have reap'd are of the tree I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed. I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed."

"The truly brave are soft of heart and eyes, and feel for what their duty bids them do."

"The tree of knowledge is not that of life."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"The very best of vineyards is the cellar"

"The truth in masquerade."

"The truly brave, when they behold the brave oppressed with odds, are touched with a desire to shield and save -- a mixture of wild beasts and demi-gods are they--now furious as the sweeping wave, now moved with pity; even as sometimes nods the rugged tree unto the summer wind, compassion breathes along the savage mind."

"The very first of human life must spring from woman's breast: your first small words are taught you from her lips; your first tears quench'd by her, and your last sighs too often breath'd out in a woman's hearing, when men have shrunk from the ignoble care of watching the last hour of him who led them."

"The way to be immortal (I mean not to die at all is to have me for your heir. I recommend you to put me in your will and you will see that (as long as I live at least you will never even catch cold."

"The wither'd frame, the ruin'd mind, The wreck by passion left behind, A shrivell'd scroll, a scatter'd leaf, sear'd by the autumn blast of grief!"

"The wish, which ages have not yet subdued In man, to have no master save his mood."

"The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, the Moon, their Mistress, had expired before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air, And the clouds perish'd; darkness had no need of aid from them--she was the Universe."

"The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character."

"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places."

"The world was void, the populous and the powerful was a lump, seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless-- a lump of death--a chaos of hard clay."

"The...dog, a best friend, the first to welcome, foremost to defend."

"The world is a bundle of hay, Mankind are the asses that pull, each tugs in a different way— and the greatest of all is John Bull!"

"The would-be wits and can't-be gentlemen, I leave them to their daily "tea is ready," smug coterie and literary lady."

"Then farewell, Horace; whom I hated so, Not for thy faults, but mine."

"Their poet, a sad trimmer, but no less in company a very pleasant fellow, had been the favorite of full many a mess of men, and made them speeches when half mellow; and though his meaning they could rarely guess, yet still they deign'd to hiccup or to bellow the glorious meed of popular applause, of which the first ne'er knows the second cause."

"There are three modes of bearing the ills of life, by indifference, by philosophy, and by religion."

"Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt In solitude, where we are least alone."

"There comes forever something between us and what we deem our happiness."

"There are things which make revenge a virtue by reflection, and not an impulse of mere anger; though the laws sleep, justice wakes, and injur'd souls oft do a public right with private wrong."

"There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat."

"There be none of Beauty's daughters With a magic like thee; And like music on the waters Is thy sweet voice to me."

"There is a fire And motion of the soul, which will not dwell In its own narrow being, but aspire Beyond the fitting medium of desire; And, but once kindled, quenchless evermore, Preys upon high adventure, nor can tire Of aught but rest; a fever at the core, Fatal to him who bears, to all who ever bore."

"There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms."

"There is a tear for all who die, a mourner o'er the humblest grave."

"There is a tide in the affairs of women which, taken at the flood, leads - God knows where."

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."

"There is an order of mortals on the earth, who do become Old in their youth, and die ere middle age."

"There is a very life in our despair."

"The stars are constantly shining, but often we do not see them until the dark hours."

"There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said, Adversity is the first path to truth"

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time."

"There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome --to be got over."

"There is music in all things, if men had ears."