The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart.
¶ "Holidays" (1876)
Quotations by ...
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as a blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone.
¶ (Attributed)
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
¶ (Attributed)
We see but dimly through the mists and vapors;
Amid these earthly damps
What seem to us but sad, funeral tapers
May be heaven's distant lamps.
¶ (Attributed)
The Laws of Nature are just, but terrible. There is no weak mercy in them. Cause and consequence are inseparable and inevitable. The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes, the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Nature — were Man as unerring in his judgments as Nature.
¶ (Attributed)
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
¶ (Attributed)
Nature is a revelation of God; Art a revelation of man.
¶ (Attributed)
Trust no future, however pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act, -- act in the living Present!
Heart within and God overhead.
¶ (Attributed)
The grave is but a covered bridge leading from light to light, through a brief darkness.
¶ A Covered Bridge at Lucerne
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
¶ A Psalm of Life
Believe me, every heart has its secret sorrow which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.
¶ Hyperion: A Romance (1839)
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WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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