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When children first begin to spell,
And stammer out a syllable,
We think them tedious creatures;
But difficulties soon abate,
When birds are to be taught to prate,
And women are the teachers.

— Vincent Bourne

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More quotes by Vincent Bourne

Ardua discenti nulla est, res nulla docenti
Ardua; cum doceat fœmina, discat avis.

Come, let us go forth to the mead,
Let us see how the primroses spring;
We'll lodge in some village on Tweed,
And love, where the feathered folks sing.

He sees that this great roundabout
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army, physic, law,
Its customs and its businesses,
Is no concern at all of his,
And says — what says he? — Caw.

Belinda and her bird! 'tis rare
To meet with such a well-match'd pair,—
The language and the tone,
Each character in every part
Sustain'd with so much grace and art,
And both in unison.
When children first begin to spell,
And stammer out a syllable,
We think them tedious creatures;
But difficulties soon abate,
When birds are to be taught to prate,
And women are the teachers.

All Vincent Bourne quotes →

Attribution

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