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For thence, — a paradox
Which comforts while it mocks, —
Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail:
What I aspired to be,
And was not, comforts me:
A brute I might have been, but would not sink i' the scale.

— Robert Browning

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More quotes by Robert Browning

The heavens and earth stay as they were; my heart
Beats as it beat: the truth remains the truth.

Colombe's Birthday (1844)

Let us cry, "All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul!"

Dramatis Personae (1864)

Inscribe all human effort with one word,
Artistry's haunting curse, the Incomplete!

The Ring and the Book (1868)

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?

Men and Women (1855)

God is the perfect poet,
Who in his person acts his own creations.

Paracelsus (1835)

All Robert Browning quotes →

Attribution

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