Quotes by Poet | Beyond Motive 72/304

top of page

Quotes by Poet

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

Henry Van Dyke, American Poet

Spring, Day, Difference, First

14

"Envy's a coal comes hissing hot from Hell."

"Envy's a coal comes hissing hot from Hell."

Philip James Bailey, English Poet

14

"One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions."

"One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions."

Horace, Roman Poet

Uncertainty, Error, Right

14

"Our society distributes itself into Barbarians, Philistines and Populace; and America is just ourselves with the Barbarians quite left out, and the Populace nearly."

"Our society distributes itself into Barbarians, Philistines and Populace; and America is just ourselves with the Barbarians quite left out, and the Populace nearly."

Matthew Arnold, English Poet

Society, America

14

"You are a unique and beautiful expression of the mysterious gift of life and creation."

"You are a unique and beautiful expression of the mysterious gift of life and creation."

Bryant McGill, American Poet

Uniqueness, Truth, Wisdom, Power, Happiness

14

"Declaring our intentions for a safer and kinder world is the obvious first step toward attaining those goals."

"Declaring our intentions for a safer and kinder world is the obvious first step toward attaining those goals."

Bryant McGill, American Poet

Intention, Inspirational, Power, Truth, Happiness

14

"At a certain stage in his evolution, man himself had been able to lay hold upon a higher order of things, which raised him above the level of the beasts that perish, and enabled him to see, at least in the distance, the shining towers of the City of God."

"At a certain stage in his evolution, man himself had been able to lay hold upon a higher order of things, which raised him above the level of the beasts that perish, and enabled him to see, at least in the distance, the shining towers of the City of God."

Alfred Noyes, English Poet

God, Evolution, Man, Order

14

"The fool who persists in his folly will become wise."

"The fool who persists in his folly will become wise."

William Blake, English Poet

Learning, Folly, Fool, Will

14

"Finds progress, man's distinctive mark alone, Not God's, and not the beast's; God is, they are, Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be."

"Finds progress, man's distinctive mark alone, Not God's, and not the beast's; God is, they are, Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be."

Robert Browning Hamilton, American Poet

God, Progress, Man

14

"But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important, in poetry meant solely for recitation, is the difficulty of achieving verbal beauty, or rather of making verbal beauty tell."

"But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important, in poetry meant solely for recitation, is the difficulty of achieving verbal beauty, or rather of making verbal beauty tell."

Lascelles Abercrombie, British Poet

Beauty, Poetry, Difficulty

14

"You are ice and fire the touch of you burns my hands like snow."

"You are ice and fire the touch of you burns my hands like snow."

Amy Lowell, American Poet

14

"Your chilly stars I can forgo, this warm kind world is all I know."

"Your chilly stars I can forgo, this warm kind world is all I know."

William Johnson Cory, English Poet

14

"Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew."

"Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew."

Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet

14

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours."

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours."

William Wordsworth, English Poet

Wisdom, Nature, Waste, World

14

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

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

Robert Burns, Scottish Poet

14

"Choose your companions from the best; Who draws a bucket with the rest soon topples down the hill."

"Choose your companions from the best; Who draws a bucket with the rest soon topples down the hill."

William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet

14

"Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them."

"Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them."

Jean de La Fontaine, French Poet

Fear, Cure, Faults, Shame

14

"The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity."

"The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity."

Lord Byron, British Poet

Beginning, Necessity, Sense

14

"When you do a job like this you have to like having cold sweat on your back."

"When you do a job like this you have to like having cold sweat on your back."

John Pomfret, American Poet

14

"Reason, I sacrifice you to the evening breeze."

"Reason, I sacrifice you to the evening breeze."

Aime Cesaire, French Poet

Sacrifice, Evening, Reason

14

"Translation is an interestingly different way to be involved both with poetry and with the language that I've found myself living in much of the time. I think the two feed each other."

"Translation is an interestingly different way to be involved both with poetry and with the language that I've found myself living in much of the time. I think the two feed each other."

Marilyn Hacker, American Poet

Poetry, Time, Language, Living

14

"Pain pumps blood when heart dies."

"Pain pumps blood when heart dies."

Munia Khan, Bangladeshi Poet

Biology, Pain, Life, Death

14

"To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice."

"To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice."

Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese Philosopher

Life, Satisfaction, Poet, Khalil Gibran

14

"Fairest and dearest, your wrath and anger are more heavy than I can bear; but learn that I cannot tell what you wish me to say without sinning against my honour too grievously."

"Fairest and dearest, your wrath and anger are more heavy than I can bear; but learn that I cannot tell what you wish me to say without sinning against my honour too grievously."

Marie de France, French Poet

14

"Time is the devourer of all things."

"Time is the devourer of all things."

Ovid, Roman Poet

14

"Wisdom outweighs any wealth."

"Wisdom outweighs any wealth."

Sophocles, Greek Poet

14

"Public opinion is no more than this: what people think that other people think."

"Public opinion is no more than this: what people think that other people think."

Alfred Austin, English Poet

People, Opinion, Public, Publicopinion

14

"To show the world what long experience gains, requires not courage, though it calls for pains; but at life's outset to inform mankind is a bold effort of a valiant mind."

"To show the world what long experience gains, requires not courage, though it calls for pains; but at life's outset to inform mankind is a bold effort of a valiant mind."

George Crabbe, English Poet

Life, Experience, Courage, Effort

14

"Fortune favours the bold."

"Fortune favours the bold."

Virgil, Roman Poet

14

"Exchange is creation."

"Exchange is creation."

Muriel Rukeyser, American Poet

14

"If you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work."

"If you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work."

Ogden Nash, American Poet

Money, Work, Want

14

"I once thought it would take a miracle to improve my circumstances. Now, I believe it will take something far more powerful, if such a thing exists."

"I once thought it would take a miracle to improve my circumstances. Now, I believe it will take something far more powerful, if such a thing exists."

Richelle E. Goodrich, American Poet

Miracle, Power, Truth, Life, Inspirational

14

"Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification."

"Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification."

John Donne, British Poet

14

"A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man."

"A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man."

e. e. cummings, American Poet

14

"What torments of grief you endured from evils that never arrived."

"What torments of grief you endured from evils that never arrived."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Emotion, Grief, Evil, Fear

14

"These poems, with all their crudities, doubts, and confusions, are written for the love of Man and in praise of God, and I'd be a damn' fool if they weren't."

"These poems, with all their crudities, doubts, and confusions, are written for the love of Man and in praise of God, and I'd be a damn' fool if they weren't."

Dylan Thomas, Welsh Poet

Love, God, Fool, Man

14

"I've always thought my poems told stories."

"I've always thought my poems told stories."

Douglas Dunn, Scottish Poet

14

"Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore."

"Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore."

Ogden Nash, American Poet

Family, Children, Giving, Parents

14

"Words can have no single fixed meaning. Like wayward electrons, they can spin away from their initial orbit and enter a wider magnetic field. No one owns them or has a proprietary right to dictate how they will be used."

"Words can have no single fixed meaning. Like wayward electrons, they can spin away from their initial orbit and enter a wider magnetic field. No one owns them or has a proprietary right to dictate how they will be used."

David Lehman, American Poet

Meaning, Right, Will, Words

14

"Keep what you have; the known evil is best."

"Keep what you have; the known evil is best."

Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman Poet

14

"They think they have God Almighty by the toe."

"They think they have God Almighty by the toe."

Ludovico Ariosto, Italian Poet

14

"Pleasant it is, when over a great sea the winds trouble the waters, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation; not because any man's troubles are a delectable joy, but because to perceive you are free of them yourself is pleasant."

"Pleasant it is, when over a great sea the winds trouble the waters, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation; not because any man's troubles are a delectable joy, but because to perceive you are free of them yourself is pleasant."

Lucretius, Roman Poet

Joy, Man, Sea, Trouble

14

"That's love: Two lonely persons keep each other safe and touch each other and talk to each other."

"That's love: Two lonely persons keep each other safe and touch each other and talk to each other."

Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet

Affection, Love, Connection, Protection, Solitude

14

"True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn."

"True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn."

Philip Massinger, British Poet

14

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."

William Blake, English Poet

Friendship, Man

14

"The Ego is partly free. partly determined, and reaches fuller freedom by approaching the Individual who is most free: God."

"The Ego is partly free. partly determined, and reaches fuller freedom by approaching the Individual who is most free: God."

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistani Poet

God, Ego, Freedom

14

"I liked the kid who wrote me that he had to do a term paper on a modern poet and he was doing me because, though they say you have to read poems twice, he found he could handle mine in one try."

"I liked the kid who wrote me that he had to do a term paper on a modern poet and he was doing me because, though they say you have to read poems twice, he found he could handle mine in one try."

Howard Nemerov, American Poet

14

"However confused the scene of our life appears, however torn we may be who now do face that scene, it can be faced, and we can go on to be whole."

"However confused the scene of our life appears, however torn we may be who now do face that scene, it can be faced, and we can go on to be whole."

Muriel Rukeyser, American Poet

14

"I have become infected, now that I see how beautifully a book is coming out of all this."

"I have become infected, now that I see how beautifully a book is coming out of all this."

Carl Sandburg, American Poet

14

"From childhood's hour I have not been. As others were, I have not seen. As others saw, I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone."

"From childhood's hour I have not been. As others were, I have not seen. As others saw, I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone."

Edgar Allan Poe, American Poet

Memory, Childhood, Joy, Isolation, Love

14

bottom of page