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We do not what we ought,
What we ought not, we do,
And lean upon the thought
That chance will bring us through;
But our own acts, for good or ill, are mightier powers.

— Matthew Arnold Empedocles on Etna (1852)

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More quotes by Matthew Arnold

Nature, with equal mind,
Sees all her sons at play
Sees man control the wind,
The wind sweep man away.

Empedocles on Etna (1852)

And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not June for beauty’s heightening.

Thyrsis (1866)

Everything in our political life tends to hide from us that there is anything wiser than our ordinary selves.

Culture and Anarchy (1869)

Hither and thither spins
The wind-borne mirroring soul,
A thousand glimpses wins,
And never sees a whole.

Empedocles on Etna (1852)

Peace, peace is what I seek, and public calm,
Endless extinction of unhappy hates.

Merope (1858)

All Matthew Arnold quotes →

Attribution

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