Poems List

The nicest thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

Entangled in a hundred worldly snares, Self-seeking men, by ignorance deluded, Strive by unrighteous means to pile up riches. Then, in their self-complacency, they say, ?This acquisition I have made to-day, That will I gain to-morrow, so much pelf Is hoarded up already, so much more Remains that I have yet to treasure up. This enemy I have destroyed, him also, And others in their turn, I will despatch. I am a lord; I will enjoy myself; I?m wealthy, noble, strong, successful, happy; I?m absolutely perfect; no one else In all the world can be compared to me. Now will I offer up a sacrifice, Give gifts with lavish hand, and be triumphant.? Such men, befooled by endless vain conceits, Caught in the meshes of the world?s illusion, Immersed in sensuality, descend Down to the foulest hell of unclean spirits.*

An idea is a feat of association.

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

Reach high, for the stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.

There is in us a lyric germ or nucleus which deserves respect; it bids a man to ponder or create; and in this dim corner of himself he can take refuge and find consolations which the society of his fellow creatures does not provide.

A bad man is as much pleased as a good man is distressed to speak ill of others.

The tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter; the fleshy, in summer. I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.

An evil-minded man is quick to see His neighbour?s faults, though small as mustard seed; But when he turns his eyes towards his own, Though large as bilva fruit, he none descries.

The most enviable writers are those who, quite often unanalytically and unconsciously, have realized that there are different facets to their nature and are able to live and work with now one, now another, in the ascendant.

The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home reads only a page.

One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.

The thing that makes a creative person is to be creative and that is all there is to it.

Just as the track of birds that cleave the air Is not discovered, nor yet the path of fish That skim the water, so the course of those Who do good actions is not always seen.

When a traveller returneth home, let him not leave the countries where he hath travelled altogether behind him.

Man is a gregarious creature, more so in mind than in body. He may like to go alone for a walk but he hates to stand alone in his opinion.

She is a wife who is notable in her house; she is a wife who beareth children; she is a wife whose husband is as her life; she is a wife who is obedient to her lord. The wife is half the man; a wife is man?s dearest friend; a wife is the source of his religion, his worldly profit, and his love. He who hath a wife maketh offerings in his house. Those who have wives are blest with good fortune. Wives are friends, who, by their kind and gentle speech, soothe you in your retirement. In your distresses they are as mothers, and they are refreshment to those who are travellers in the rugged paths of life.

Cowards falter, but danger is often overcome by those who nobly dare.

The teaching of politics is that the Government, which was set for protection and comfort of all good citizens, becomes the principal obstruction and nuisance with which we have to contend… The cheat and bully and malefactor we meet everywhere is the Government.

Immortality lies not in the things you leave behind, but in the people your life has touched.

A wound inflicted by arrows heals, a wood cut down by an axe grows, but harsh words are hateful?a wound inflicted by them does not heal. Arrows of different sorts can be extracted from the body, but a word-dart cannot be drawn out, for it is seated in the heart.

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.