65 quotes
Enough's a surfeit to the soul.
Memoirs and Correspondence (1900)
Toleration, as it is now widely preached, may be a very one-sided bargain. It will not do to let falsehood and moral idiocy say to truth and honesty, "I will tolerate you if you will tolerate me."
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)
I vowed unvarying faith, and she
To whom in full I pay that vow,
Rewards me with variety
Which men who change can never know.
The Angel in the House (1854)
Ah, whither shall a maiden flee,
When a bold youth so swift pursues,
And siege of tenderest courtesy,
With hope perseverant, still renews!
"The bliss which woman's charms bespeak,
"I've sought in many, found in none!"
"In many 'tis in vain you seek
"What can be found in only one."
The Angel in the House (1854)
The proper study of mankind is woman.
Memoirs and Correspondence (1900)
She is both heaven and the way.
The Angel in the House (1854)
The flower of olden sanctities.
The Unknown Eros (1877)
What seems to us for us is true.
The planet has no proper light,
And yet when Venus is in view,
No primal star is half so bright.
The Angel in the House (1854)
Woman is the sum and complex of all nature, and is the visible glory of God.[…] The "Word made Flesh" [John 1:14] is the word made Woman.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)
Strong passions mean weak will.
The Angel in the House (1854)
For want of me the world’s course will not fail;
When all its work is done the lie shall rot;
The truth is great and shall prevail
When none cares whether it prevail or not.
The Unknown Eros (1877)
The sunshine dreaming upon Salmon’s height
Is not so sweet and white
As the most heretofore sin-spotted Soul
That darts to its delight
Straight from the absolution of a faithful fight.
The Unknown Eros (1877)
Man, when he is in health and order of soul and body, is Mount Olympus, and in him, so long as he confesses that he is nothing in himself, are sensibly apparent the powers and majesties, beauties and beatitudes of all Gods and Goddesses.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)
If you try to simplify or pare off the superfluous from the minds and speech of most men, you will find that nothing is left. There is no simplicity in them, for there is no truth; truth and simplicity being, as Aquinas says, the same thing.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)
Life's warp of Heaven and woof of Hell.
Memoirs and Correspondence (1900)
"I saw you take his kiss!" "'Tis true."
"O, modesty!" "'Twas strictly kept:
He thought me asleep; at least, I knew
He thought I thought he thought I slept."
The Angel in the House (1854)
I drew my bride, beneath the moon,
Across my threshold; happy hour!
But, ah, the walk that afternoon
We saw the water-flags in flower!
The Angel in the House (1854)
Books are influential in proportion to their obscurity, provided that the obscurity be that of inexpressible Realities. The Bible is the most obscure book in the world. He must be a great fool who thinks he understands the plainest chapter of it.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)
Having my law the seventh time disobey'd,
I struck him, and dismiss'd
With hard words and unkiss'd,
—His Mother, who was patient, being dead.
The Unknown Eros (1877)