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Quotes from Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing — Samuel Hoffenstein

1890–1947 Ukraine

← All quotes by Samuel Hoffenstein

18 quotes

Breathes there a man with hide so tough
Who says two sexes aren’t enough?

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Your little voice,
So soft and kind;
Your little soul,
Your little mind!

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Loyal be to loyal friends;
Make them pay you dividends;
Work, like the industrious bee,
Your friends and foes impartially.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

The apple grows so bright and high,
And ends its days in apple pie.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

If you love me, as I love you,
We'll both be friendly and untrue.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Oh, how various is the scene
Allowed to Man for his demesne!

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

I play with the bulls and the bears;
I’m the Bartlett of market quotations.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

I burned my candle at both ends,
And now have neither foes nor friends.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

I’d rather listen to a flute
In Gotham, than a band in Butte.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

You buy some flowers for your table;
You tend them tenderly as you’re able;
You fetch them water from hither and thither—
What thanks do you get for it all? They wither.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Babies haven’t any hair;
Old men’s heads are just as bare;—
Between the cradle and the grave
Lies a haircut and a shave.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

The head that wears a crown may be
Inclined to some anxiety,
But, on the other hand, I know
A derby domes its meed of woe.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

When the wind is in the tree,
It makes a noise just like the sea,
As if there were not noise enough
To bother one, without that stuff.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Of all the birds that sing and fly
Between the housetops and the sky,
The muddy sparrow, mean and small,
I like, by far, the best of all.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

The stars, like measles, fade at last.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Some folks I know are always worried,
That when they die, they will be buried;
And some I know are quite elated
Because they’re going to be cremated.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

When you’re away, I’m restless, lonely,
Wretched, bored, dejected; only
Here’s the rub, my darling dear,
I feel the same when you are here.

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

When trouble drives me into rhyme,
Which is two-thirds of all the time,
What peace a thought like this can give—
Great is the age in which we live!

Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing (1928)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Hoffenstein (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.