Quotes by Poet | Beyond Motive 14/304

top of page

Quotes by Poet

"The trouble with a kitten is that eventually it becomes a cat."

"The trouble with a kitten is that eventually it becomes a cat."

Ogden Nash, American Poet

24

"Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity."

"Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity."

William Blake, English Poet

Old, Prudence, Ugly

24

"Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide."

"Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide."

John Dryden, English Poet

Philosophy, Madness

24

"Good taste is the worst vice ever invented."

"Good taste is the worst vice ever invented."

Edith Sitwell, British Poet

24

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop."

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop."

Ovid, Roman Poet

24

"Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character."

"Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character."

Robert Browning Hamilton, American Poet

Faith, Love, Fear, Character

24

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!"

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!"

Lord Byron, British Poet

24

"Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are."

"Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Identity, Language, Will

24

"No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable."

"No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable."

Letitia Landon, British Poet

24

"There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat."

"There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat."

James Russell Lowell, American Poet

24

"To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable."

"To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable."

John Milton, English Poet

Society, Blind, Blindness

24

"Every beginning has an end and every end is a new beginning."

"Every beginning has an end and every end is a new beginning."

Santosh Kalwar, Nepalese Poet

Cycle, End, Beginning, Change, Hope

24

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Emma Lazarus, American Poet

24

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German Poet

Success, Direction, Progress, Mindset, Stand

24

"You can find the entire cosmos lurking in its least remarkable objects."

"You can find the entire cosmos lurking in its least remarkable objects."

Wislawa Szymborska, Polish Poet

Universe, Cosmos, Remarkable

24

"He that shuns trifles must shun the world."

"He that shuns trifles must shun the world."

George Chapman, English Poet

Trifle, Trifles, World

24

"Everyone once once only. Just once and no more. And we also once. Never again."

"Everyone once once only. Just once and no more. And we also once. Never again."

Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet

Uniqueness, Existence, Life, Time

24

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."

Henry Van Dyke, American Poet

Gratitude, Feeling, Kindness, Thankfulness

24

"A very great Iliad... concerns the creation of a nation."

"A very great Iliad... concerns the creation of a nation."

Raymond Queneau, French Poet

Creation, Nation

24

"Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, a box where sweets compacted lie."

"Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, a box where sweets compacted lie."

George Herbert, British Poet

Lie, Roses, Spring

24

"Let that which stood in front go behind, let that which was behind advance to the front, let bigots, fools, unclean persons, offer new propositions, let the old propositions be postponed."

"Let that which stood in front go behind, let that which was behind advance to the front, let bigots, fools, unclean persons, offer new propositions, let the old propositions be postponed."

Walt Whitman, American Poet

Fool, Fools, Old

24

"God is a mean-spirited, pugnacious bully bent on revenge against His children for failing to live up to his impossible standards."

"God is a mean-spirited, pugnacious bully bent on revenge against His children for failing to live up to his impossible standards."

Walt Whitman, American Poet

Religion, Faith, God, Revenge, Judgment

24

"Frost is the greatest artist in our clime - he paints in nature and describes in rime."

"Frost is the greatest artist in our clime - he paints in nature and describes in rime."

Thomas Hood, English Poet

24

"We talk on principal, but act on motivation."

"We talk on principal, but act on motivation."

Walter Savage Landor, English Poet

Motivational, Motivation, Act, Talk

24

"The rewards of virtue alone abide secure."

"The rewards of virtue alone abide secure."

Sophocles, Greek Poet

24

"Sadness is but a wall between two gardens."

"Sadness is but a wall between two gardens."

Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese Philosopher

Gardening, Gardens, Sadness, Poet, Khalil Gibran

24

"Hot water is my native element. I was in it as a baby, and I have never seemed to get out of it ever since."

"Hot water is my native element. I was in it as a baby, and I have never seemed to get out of it ever since."

Edith Sitwell, British Poet

Comfort, Baby, Water

24

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding."

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Peace, Understanding, Violence

24

"If I should get lost in all the chaos of the world, pull your butterly net and catch me in the beauty of your love. Remind me of important things -- friends, flowers, fields of cool grass under bare feet, blue skies above, rain on my face, and freedom... freedom to make a difference, freedom to be me. Pull out your butterfly net and remind me of these things, and most of all... your undying love."

"If I should get lost in all the chaos of the world, pull your butterly net and catch me in the beauty of your love. Remind me of important things -- friends, flowers, fields of cool grass under bare feet, blue skies above, rain on my face, and freedom... freedom to make a difference, freedom to be me. Pull out your butterfly net and remind me of these things, and most of all... your undying love."

Melody Lee, American Poet

Life, Freedom, Love, Beauty, Nature

24

"Imagination is the air of mind."

"Imagination is the air of mind."

Philip James Bailey, English Poet

Imagination, Mind

24

"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary."

"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary."

Heinrich Heine, German Poet

Eloquence, Nothing, Saying

24

"Have you ever sat on a window seat, in the train of your memories while it's raining heavily? Rain has this ridiculous power of waking up all the angels and demons inside us at once, doesn't it? All of a sudden there is a war inside us, between both the sides. We can do nothing but clench our fists and watch our train derail and take a path we have never come across before. All we know at that point of time is that we are going to crash somewhere. Either our demons win or the angels, we are going to get wounded somewhere."

"Have you ever sat on a window seat, in the train of your memories while it's raining heavily? Rain has this ridiculous power of waking up all the angels and demons inside us at once, doesn't it? All of a sudden there is a war inside us, between both the sides. We can do nothing but clench our fists and watch our train derail and take a path we have never come across before. All we know at that point of time is that we are going to crash somewhere. Either our demons win or the angels, we are going to get wounded somewhere."

Akshay Vasu, Indian Poet

Memory, Rain, War, Angels

24

"The groundwork of all happiness is health."

"The groundwork of all happiness is health."

Leigh Hunt, English Poet

Happiness, Health

24

"Simplicity is efficient."

"Simplicity is efficient."

A. D. Posey, American Poet

Simplicity, Efficiency, Minimalism, Realism

24

"Some wisdom you must learn from one who's wise."

"Some wisdom you must learn from one who's wise."

Euripides, Greek Poet

24

"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."

"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."

Edith Sitwell, British Poet

24

"Dare to be honest and fear no labor."

"Dare to be honest and fear no labor."

Robert Burns, Scottish Poet

24

"I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality."

"I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality."

Sydney Carter, English Poet

Heart, Christ, Reality

24

"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is."

"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German Poet

Trust, Belief, Man

24

"He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce."

"He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American Poet

Self-Respect, Mail

24

"All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses."

"All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses."

Wislawa Szymborska, Polish Poet

24

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long.They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long.They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."

Walt Whitman, American Poet

Philosophy, Animals, Peace, Nature, Simplicity

24

"It is madness to make fortune the mistress of events, because by herself she is nothing and is ruled by prudence."

"It is madness to make fortune the mistress of events, because by herself she is nothing and is ruled by prudence."

John Dryden, English Poet

Events, Fortune, Madness, Nothing

24

"Life consists of what man is thinking about all day."

"Life consists of what man is thinking about all day."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Mind, Thought, Day, Life, Thinking

24

"In the room...they are inside the books. They move sometimes within the pages, like sleepers turning over between two dreams."

"In the room...they are inside the books. They move sometimes within the pages, like sleepers turning over between two dreams."

Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet

Story, Books, Imagination, Dream, Mystery

24

"That last winter was a tragic story and I got no personal honour out of it but I was a witness to it."

"That last winter was a tragic story and I got no personal honour out of it but I was a witness to it."

Laurie Lee, English Poet

Witness, Winter

24

"A knock-down argument; 'tis but a word and a blow."

"A knock-down argument; 'tis but a word and a blow."

John Dryden, English Poet

24

"Poetry; a criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty."

"Poetry; a criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty."

Matthew Arnold, English Poet

Life, Beauty, Truth, Poetry

24

"Distance matters only when you fail to cover it through your mind."

"Distance matters only when you fail to cover it through your mind."

Munia Khan, Bangladeshi Poet

Connection, Distance, Mind, Perception

24

"Painting is really good fun, I have always enjoyed it. As long as I paint what I want with the freedom that I enjoy, I never tire."

"Painting is really good fun, I have always enjoyed it. As long as I paint what I want with the freedom that I enjoy, I never tire."

John Dyer, American Poet

Freedom, Fun, Painting, Want

23

bottom of page