Man dwells apart, though not alone,
He walks among his peers unread;
The best of thoughts which he hath known
For lack of listeners are not said.

Jean Ingelow (March 17, 1820 – July 20, 1897) was an English poet and novelist.

Quotes

  • Man is the miracle in nature and nature is natural. God
    Is the One Miracle to man. Behold,
    "There is a God," thou sayest. Thou sayest well:
    In that thou sayest all. To Be is more
    Of wonderful, than being, to have wrought,
    Or reigned, or rested.
    • Story of Doom (1867), Book VII, line 271.
  • It seemed proper indeed to crowd the pages with children, for in real life they run all over; the world is covered thickly with the prints of their little footsteps, though, as a rule, books written for grown-up people are kept almost clear of them.
    • The Preface to the American edition of Fated to be Free (1875)
  • There is nothing so unreasonable as infancy, excepting the maturer stages of life.
    • Fated to be Free (1875)
  • If one cannot have success, the next most agreeable thing is failure.
    • Chapter 3, John Jerome, His Thoughts and Ways (1886)

  • The while He sits whose name is Love,
    And waits, as Noah did, for the dove,
    To wit if she would fly to him.

    He waits for us, while, houseless things,
    We beat about with bruised wings
    On the dark floods and water-springs,
    The ruined world, the desolate sea;
    With open windows from the prime
    All night, all day, He waits sublime,
    Until the fulness of the time
    Decreed from His eternity.

    • "Scholar and Carpenter", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • Reign, and keep life in this our deep desire
    Our only greatness is that we aspire.
    • "A Snow Mountain", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • Crowds of bees are giddy with clover
    Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet,
    Crowds of larks at their matins hang over,
    Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.
    • "Divided", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • But two are walking apart forever
    And wave their hands for a mute farewell.
    • "Divided", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
    Than my sonne's wife, Elizabeth.
    • "The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • Man dwells apart, though not alone,
    He walks among his peers unread;
    The best of thoughts which he hath known
    For lack of listeners are not said.
    • "Afterthought", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • How short our happy days appear!
    How long the sorrowful!
    • "The Mariner's Cave", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
  • To bear, to nurse, to rear,
    To watch and then to lose,
    To see my bright ones disappear,
    Drawn up like morning dews.
    • "Songs of Seven. Seven times Six", reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
This article is issued from Wikiquote. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.