John Greenleaf Whittier > Quotes

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“The windows of my soul I throw
Wide open to the sun.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, John Greenleaf Whittier's Poetry: An Appraisal and a Selection

“A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone near,
A little gift from one held dear,
Best wishes for the coming year.

These make a merry christmas!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“If thou of fortune be bereft,
and in thy store there be but left
two loaves, sell one, and with the
dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“The tints of autumn...a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Flowers spring to blossom where she walks
The careful ways of duty;
Our hard, stiff lines of life with her
Are flowing curves of beauty.
”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“No longer forward or behind
I look in hope or fear,
But grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“the joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“So all night long the storm roared on:
The morning broke without a sun;
In tiny spherule traced with lines
Of Nature’s geometric signs,
In starry flake, and pellicle,
All day the hoary meteor fell;
And, when the second morning shone,
We looked upon a world unknown,
On nothing we could call our own.
Around the glistening wonder bent
The blue walls of the firmament,
No cloud above, no earth below,—
A universe of sky and snow!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Complete poetical works

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller

“At what point does a man turn into a monster? I don’t believe that it’s when he does horrible things, but when he accepts that he’s able to do them, and that he does them well.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“I'll lift you and you lift me, and we'll both ascend together.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“The continuity of life is never broken; the river flows onward and is lost to our sight, but under its new horizon it carries the same waters which it gathered under ours, and its unseen valleys are made glad by the offerings which are borne down to them from the past,--flowers, perchance, the germs of which its own waves had planted on the banks of Time.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Nothing before, nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on the seeming void, and find
The Rock beneath.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“And sweet and far as from a star, replied a voice which shall not cease, till drowning all the noise of war, it sings the blessed song of peace”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Clothe with life the weak intent,
Let me be the thing I meant ...”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Rest if you must, but never quit.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“And still we love the evil cause
And of the just effect complain;
We tread upon life's broken laws
And murmur at our self-inflicted pain.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

“I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond his love and care.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.”
― john greenleaf whittier

“sometimes it seems as if the universe wants to be noticed!!!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
For God, who loveth all His works,
Has left His hope with all!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“Methinks I see the sunset light flooding the river valley, the western hills stretching to the horizon, overhung with trees gorgeous and glowing with the tints of autumn -- a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Tales and Sketches

“But dream not helm and harness
The sign of valor true;
Peace hath higher tests of manhood
Than battle ever knew.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

“I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground
Ye tread with boldness shod;
I dare not fix with mete and bound
The love and power of God...
I know not where his islands lift
Their fronded palms in the air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond his love and care.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“And one there was, a dreamer born,
Who, with a mission to fulfill,
Had left the Muses' haunts to turn
The crank of an opinion-mill,
Making his rustic reed of song
A weapon in the war with wrong,...
"A Tent on the Beach”
― John Greenleaf Whittier

“If we write at all, why not use our talents to the best advantage?”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Life And Letters, Volume 1

“When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a failure comes about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow—
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell just how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit—
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit”
― John Greenleaf Whittier