The collection / 133 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01Undated

For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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02Undated

A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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03Undated

It is too late! Ah, nothing is too lateTill the tired heart shall cease to palpitate.Cato learned Greek at eighty; SophoclesWrote his grand Oedipus, and SimonidesBore off the prize of verse from his compeers,When each had numbered more than fourscore years,And Theophrastus, at fourscore and ten,Had but begun his Characters of Men.Chaucer, at Woodstock with the nightingales,At sixty wrote the Canterbury Tales;Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last,Completed Faust when eighty years were past,These are indeed exceptions; but they showHow far the gulf-stream of our youth may flowInto the arctic regions of our lives.Where little else than life itself survives.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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04Undated

There was an old belief that in the embersOf all things their primordial form exists, And cunning alchemistsCould re-create the rose with all its membersFrom its own ashes, but without the bloom, Without the lost perfume Ah me! what wonder-working, occult scienceCan from the ashes in our hearts once more The rose of youth restore?What craft of alchemy can bid defianceTo time and change, and for a single hour Renew this phantom-flower?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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05Undated

For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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06Undated

One if by land, two if by sea.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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07Undated

Every arrow that flies feels the pull of the earth.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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08Undated

Write on your doors the saying wise and old,"Be bold! be bold!" and everywhere-- "Be bold;Be not too bold!" Yet better the excessThan the defect; better the more than less;Better like Hector in the field to die,Than like a perfumed Paris turn and fly,

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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09Undated

I have you fast in my fortress,And will not let you depart,But put you down into the dungeon,In the round-tower of my heart,And there will I keep you forever,Yes, forever and a day,Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,And moulder in the dust away!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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10Undated

The nearer the dawnthe darker the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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11Undated

If Spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change! But now the silent succession suggests nothing but necessity. To most men only the cessation of the miracle would be miraculous and the perpetual exercise of God’s power seems less wonderful than its withdrawal would be.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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12Undated

I heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old, familiar carols play,And wild and sweetThe words repeatOf peace on earth, good-will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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13Undated

These are the woes of Slaves;They glare from the abyss;They cry, from unknown graves,"We are the Witnesses!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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14Undated

And oft the blessed time foretellsWhen all men shall be free;And musical, as silver bells,Their falling chains shall be.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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15Undated

My soul is full of longingfor the secret of the sea,and the heart of the great oceansends a thrilling pulse through me.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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16Undated

The student has his Rome, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library. He has in his books the ruins of an antique world and the glories of a modern one.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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17Undated

I have you fast in my fortress,And will not let you depart,But put you down into the dungeonIn the round-tower of my heart.And there will I keep you forever,Yes, forever and a day,Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,And moulder in dust away.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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18Undated

I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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19Undated

He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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20Undated

Each morning sees some task begun Each evening sees it close. Something attempted something done Has earned a night's repose.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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21Undated

How sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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22Undated

Be still sad heart and cease repining Behind the clouds the sun is shining Thy fate is the common fate of all Into each life some rain must fall - Some days must be dark and dreary.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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23Undated

Go forth to meet the shadowy Future without fear and with a manly heart.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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24Undated

The night shall be filled with music And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / quote

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