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Avarice, envy, pride, Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all On Fire." -Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, The
"Ae fond kiss, and then we sever! A farewell, and then forever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. Who shall say that Fortune grieves him, While the star of hope she leaves him? Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me, Dark despair around benights me." -Robert Burns, Ae Fond Kiss "The great Creator to revere Must sure become the creature; But still the preaching cant forbear, And ev'n the rigid feature: Yet ne'er with wits profane to range Be complaisance extended;An atheist laugh's a poor exchange For deity offended." -Robert Burns, Epistle to a Young Friend, An
"'Tis an old saying, the Devil lurks behind the cross. All is not gold that glitters. From the tail of the plough, Bamba was made King of Spain; and from his silks and riches was Rodrigo cast to be devoured by the snakes." -Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote "Five miles meandering with mazy motion, Through dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank the tumult to a lifeless ocean: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war!" -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Kahn
"Because I could not stop for Death -- He kindly stopped for me -- The carriage held but just ourselves And immortality." -Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop For Death "The people have a right supreme To make their kings, for Kings are made for them. All Empire is no more than Pow'r in Trust, Which when resum'd, can be no longer just. Successionm for the general good design'd, In its own wrong a Nation cannot bind." -John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel "All human things are subject to decay, And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey; This Flecknoe found, who like Augustus young Was call'd to empire, and had govern'd long: In prose and verse, was own'd, without dispute Through all the realms of nonsense, absolute." -John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe
"This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper." -T. S. Eliot, Hollow Men, The "April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory out of desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in a forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers." -T. S. Eliot, Waste Land, The "Far or forgot to me is near; Shadow and sunlight are the same; The vanished gods to me appear; And one to me are shame and fame. They reckon ill who leave me out; When me they fly, I am the wings; I am the doubter and the doubt, And I the hymn the Brahmin sings." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn "Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for being: Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose! I never sought to ask, I never knew: But, in my simple ignorance suppose The selfsame power that brought me there brought you." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rhodora, The
"I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost, Road Not Taken, The "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep." -Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
"The dancing pair that simply sought renown, By holding out to tire each other down; The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While secret laughter titter'd round the place; The bashful virgin's side-long looks of love, The matrons glance that would those looks reprove: These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these, With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please; These were thy bowers their cheerful influence shed, These were thy charms -- but all these charms are fled." -Oliver Goldsmith, Deserted Village, The
"At last is Hector stretch'd upon the plain, Who fear'd no vengeance for Patroclus slain: Then, Prince! You should have fear'd, what now you feel; Achilles absent was Achilles still: Yet a short space the great avenger stayed, Then low in dust thy strength and glory laid." -Homer, Iliad, The "And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat theur swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither sall they learn war any more." -Isaiah, Isaiah 2:4
"I am grieved that it should be said he is my brother, and take these courses. Well, as he brews, so shall he drink, for George again. Yet he shall hear on't, and tightly, too, an' I live, i'faith." -Ben Johnson, Every Man In His Humor
"'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' -- that is all Ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know." -John Keats, Ode On A Grecian Urn
"The shades of night were falling fast, As though an Alpine village passed A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, A banner with the strange device, Excelsior! His brow was sad; his eye beneath, Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, And like a silver clarion rung The accents of that unknown tongue, Excelsior!" -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Excelsior "For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd; And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!" -Lord Byron, Destruction of Sennacherib, The
"Here at last We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven." -John Milton, Paradise Lost "When the waves are round me breaking, As I pace the deck alone, And my eye in vain is seeking Some green leaf to rest upon; What would not I give to wander Where my old companions dwell? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!" -John Milton, Paradise Lost "Accuse not nature, she hath done her part; Do thou but thine, and be not diffident Of wisdom, she deserts thee not, if thou Dismiss not her, when most thou needest her nigh, By attributing overmuch to things Less excellent, as thou thyself perceivest." -John Milton, Paradise Lost "But wherefore thou alone? Wherefore with thee Came not all hell broke loose? Is pain to them Less pain, less to be fled, or thou than they Less hardy to endure? Courageous chief, The first in flight from pain, hadst thou alleged To thy deserted host this cause of flight, Thou surely hadst not come sole fugitive." -John Milton, Paradise Lost
"Beauty is but a flower, Which wrinkles will devour; Brightness falls from the air; Queens have died young and fair; Dust hath closed Helen's eye. I am sick, I must die; Lord have mercy on us." -Thomas Nash, Song in Time of Pestilence
"What passing bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons." -Wilfred Owen, Anthem for Doomed Youth
"Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow-- You are not wrong who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream." -Edgar Allan Poe, Dream Within A Dream, A "In words as fashions the same rule will hold, Alike fantastic if too new or old: Be not the first by whome the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." -Alexander Pope, Essay On Criticism, An "Hither the heroes and nymphs resort, To taste awhile the pleasures of a court; In various talk th'instuctive hours they past, Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last; One speaks the glory of the British Queen, And one describes a charming Indian screenl A third interprets motions, looks and eyes; At every word a reputation dies." -Alexander Pope, Rape of the Lock, The
"Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield! Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason, Resplendent daughter of the head divine, Wise foundress of the system of the world, Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou, Bound to the tail of folly's uncurb'd steed, Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd, Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss." -Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, Maid of Orleans, The "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety: other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies." -William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages." -William Shakespeare, As You Like It "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy..." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet "Angels and ministers of grace defend us. Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damned, Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked, or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet "To die, to sleep -- To sleep, perchance to dream, ay there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause; there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet "He was my friend, faithful, and just to me; But Brutus says, he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept. Ambition should me made of sterner stuff, Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man." -William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar "Oh, thou hast a damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me Hal, God forgive thee for it. Before I knew thee Hal, I knew nothing, and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked." -William Shakespeare, King Henry IV "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport." -William Shakespeare, King Lear "But then I sigh, and with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil. And thus I clothe my naked villainy With odd old ends stolen forth of holy writ, And seem I a saint, when most I play the Devil." -William Shakespeare, King Richard III "'Humph!' grunted Mr. Romford, seeing his worst fears about to be realized. He had dreamt that he had timbled over a poodle in the drawing-room, and squirted a bottle of porter right into a lady's face. 'Who's goin' besides ourselves?' asked Romford, wishing to know the worst at once. 'Better be killed than frightened to death,' thought he." -Robert Smith Surtees, Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -Henry David Thoreau, Walden
"Nothing but blackness above And nothing that moves but the cars... God, if you wish for our love, Fling us a handful of stars!" -Louis Untermeyer, Caliban in the Coal Mines
"Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even though they bring gifts." -Virgil, Aeneid, The "Oh you who are born of the blood of the gods, Trojan son of Anchises, easy is the descent to Hell; the door of dark Dis stands open day and night. But to retrace your steps and come out to the air above, that is work, that is labor!" -Virgil, Aeneid, The "'That is indisputable,' was the answer, 'but in this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.'" -Voltaire, Candide
"Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!" -Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
"You shall go with me, newly-married bride, And gaze upon a merrier multitude. White-armed Nuala, Aengus of the Birds, Feachra of the hurtling form, and him Who is the ruler of the Western Host, Finvara, and their Land of Heart's Desire. Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood, But joy is wisdom, time an endless song." -William Butler Yeats, Land of Heart's Desire
"You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! Here, you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries..."
-Israel Zangwill, Melting Pot, The
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