Poems List

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Think as I think said the man, or you are abominable. You are a toad. And after I had thought on it, I said I will then, be a toad.

There is nothing more becoming a wise man than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art. Let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters than thy inferiors; shunning always such as are poor and needy, for if thou givest twenty gifts and refuse to do the like but once, all that thou hast done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies.

As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have least with are the greatest babblers.

When people have no other tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one.

Humility is not disgraceful, and carries no loss of true pride.

Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse, not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign.

In conversation humour is more than wit, easiness, more than knowledge; few desire to learn, or to think they need it; all desire to be pleased, or, if not, to be easy.

The best weapons against the infamies of life are courage, wilfulness and patience. Courage strenthens, wilfulness is fun and patience provides tranquility.

We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.

Whatever you are from nature, keep to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be anything else, and you will be ten thousands times worse than nothing.

Our time is like our money; when we change a guinea the shillings escape as things of small account; when we break a day by idleness in the morning, the rest of the hours lose their importance in our eyes.

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for .success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.

Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise.

Nothing is so frequent as to mistake an ordinary human gift for a special and extraordinary endowment.

The empty beds of rivers fill again; Trees leafless now renew their vernal bloom; Returning moons their lustrous phase resume; But man a second youth expects in vain.*

There is hardly anybody good for everything, and there is scarcely anybody who is absolutely good for nothing.

When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.

There is nothing in this world which a resolute man, who exerts himself, cannot attain.

Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or imagination, rarely or never.

My goal in life is to survive. Everything else is just a bonus.

Power in defense of freedom is greater than power on behalf of tyranny and oppression.

To exert his power in doing good is man?s most glorious task.

A little tact and wise management may often evade resistance, and carry a point, where direct force might be in vain.