26 quotes
Cannon-balls may aid the truth
But thought’s a weapon stronger;
We’ll win our battles by its aid,
Wait a little longer.
Voices from the Crowd, and Town Lyrics (1857)
The smallest effort is not lost,
Each wavelet on the ocean tost
Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow;
Each rain-drop makes some floweret blow;
Each struggle lessens human woe.
Voices from the Crowd, and Town Lyrics (1857)
Some love to roam o’er the dark sea’s foam,
Where the shrill winds whistle free.
Legends of the Isles and Other Poems (1851)
Aid the dawning, tongue and pen;
Aid it, hopes of honest men!
Legends of the Isles and Other Poems (1851)
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.
Legends of the Isles and Other Poems (1851)
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
Water is the mother of the vine,
The nurse and fountain of fecundity,
The adorner and refresher of the world.
You've been a coward in the fight.
There is no such thing as death.
In nature nothing dies.
From each sad remnant of decay
Some forms of life arise.
Old Tubal Cain was a man of might
In the days when earth was young.
Legends of the Isles and Other Poems (1851)
Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
Every age has its peculiar folly: Some scheme, project, or fantasy into which it plunges, spurred on by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the force of imitation.
Cleon hath a million acres,— ne’er a one have I;
Cleon dwelleth in a palace, — in a cottage I.
Legends of the Isles and Other Poems (1851)
Tell me, ye wingèd winds
That round my pathway roar,
Know ye not some spot
Where mortals weep no more?
During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
Of all the offspring of Time, Error is the most ancient, and is so old and familiar an acquaintance, that Truth, when discovered, comes upon most of us like an intruder, and meets the intruder's welcome.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
Cleon hath ten thousand acres,—
Ne'er a one have I;
Cleon dwelleth in a palace,—
In a cottage I.
And he sang: "Hurra for my handiwork!"
And the red sparks lit the air;
Not alone for the blade was the bright steel made;
And he fashioned the first ploughshare.
Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)
War in men's eyes shall be
A monster of iniquity
In the good time coming.
Nations shall not quarrel then,
To prove which is the stronger;
Nor slaughter men for glory's sake;—
Wait a little longer.