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A fool there was and he made his prayer
(Even as you and I!)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair
We called her the woman who did not care),
But the fool he called her his lady fair
(Even as you and I!)

— Rudyard Kipling Departmental Ditties and other Verses (1886)

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Romance

More quotes by Rudyard Kipling

Asia is not going to be civilised after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old.

The Man Who Was (1891)

It takes a great deal of Christianity to wipe out uncivilized Eastern instincts, such as falling in love at first sight.

Plain Tales from the Hills (1888)

God gave all men all earth to love,
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Belovèd over all.

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

The Second Jungle Book (1895)

All Rudyard Kipling quotes →

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Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.

William Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing (1598)

She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;
She is a woman, therefore to be won.

William Shakespeare Henry VI, Part 1 (1592)

Romance requires trust—and the deeper the trust, the deeper the possibility for romance.

Jordan Peterson Beyond Order (2021)

The surest way to hit a woman’s heart is to take aim kneeling.

Douglas William Jerrold

Attribution

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