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Though I was long in coming to the light,
Yet may I mount to fortune's highest height.

— William Alexander A Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words (1924)

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Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Aurora. Sonnet 98.
Work: A Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words, 1924
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

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The white sail of his soul has rounded
The promontory—death.

That generous plainness proves the better way.

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His birthright sold, some pottage so to gain.

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Pride hated stands, and doth unpitied fall.

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That queen of nations, absolutely great.

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What thing so good which not some harm may bring?
Even to be happy is a dangerous thing.

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Vile avarice and pride, from Heaven accurst,
In all are ill, but in a church-man worst.

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Although my hap be hard, my heart is high.

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Topics

Luck

More quotes by William Alexander

Of all the tyrants that the world affords,
Our own affections are the fiercest lords.

A Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words (1924)

To love and be beloved, this is the good,
Which for most sovereign all the world will prove.

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Of all things that are feared, the least is death.

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That fatal sergeant, Death, spares no degree.

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Despair and confidence both banish fear.

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In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

William Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1601)

O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
Why make such game of this poor life of ours?

Horace Satires (-35)

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.

Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Alexander (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.