Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within. Alfred Lord Tennyson on words
Two aged men, that had been foes for life, Met by a grave, and wept - and in those tears They washed away the memory of their strife; Then wept again the loss of all those years. Frederick Tennyson on sorrow
You believe that easily which you hope for earnestly. Terence on beliefs
When we are well, we all have good advice for those who are ill. Terence on health
I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example of himself. Terence on identity
The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice. Terence on law
Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor’s art infinite. Ellen Terry on acting
I know what love is. It’s understanding. It’s you and me and let the rest of the world go by. Just the two of us living our lives together happily and proudly. No self-torture and no doubt. It’s enduring and it’s everlasting. Nothing can change it. Nothing can change us, Ollie. That’s what I think love is. Dewitt Bodeen on understanding
If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business. William Thackeray on character
The thrush in my back yard sings down his nose in liquid runs of melody, over and over again, and I have the strongest impression that he does this for his own pleasure. It is a meditative, questioning kind of music, and I cannot believe that he issimply saying "thrush here." Lewis Thomas on identity
The chambers in the house of dreams Are fed with so divine an air, That Time's hoary wings grow young therein, And they who walk there are most fair. Francis Thompson on dreams
Nothing begins, and nothing ends, that is not paid with moan; for we are born in other's pain, and perish in our own. Francis Thompson on pain
'Tis easier for the generous to forgi Thomson on forgiveness
Let us have Wine and Women, Mirth and Laughter; Sermons and soda-water the day after. James Thomson on laughter
Peace is the happy natural state of man; war is corruption and disgrace. James Thomson on peace
By avarice and selfishness, and a groveling habit, from which none of us is free, of regarding the soil as property, or the means of acquiring property chiefly, the landscape is deformed, husbandry is degraded with us, and the farmer leads the meanest of lives. He knows Nature but as a robber. Henry David Thoreau on avarice
It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far moreglorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Henry David Thoreau on beauty
We should distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes. Henry David Thoreau on business