Howard Pyle > Quotes

“Will you come with me, sweet Reader? I thank you. Give me your hand.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“He who jumps for the moon and gets it not leaps higher than he who stoops for a penny in the mud.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“So passed the seasons then, so they pass now, and so they will pass in time to come, while we come and go like leaves of the tree that fall and are soon forgotten.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“You who so plod amid serious things that you feel it shame to give yourself up even for a few short moments to mirth and joyousness in the land of Fancy; you who think that life hath not to do with innocent laughter that can harm no one; these pages are not for you.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“What is done is done; and the cracked egg cannot be cured.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“It doth make a man better,' quoth Robin Hood, 'to bear of those noble men so long ago. When one doth list to such tales, his soul doth say, 'put by thy poor little likings and seek to do likewise.' Truly, one may not do as nobly one's self, but in the striving one is better...”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“(H)ope, be it never so faint, bringeth a gleam into darkness, like a little rushlight that costeth but a groat.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“The stories of childhood leave an indelible impression, and their author always has a niche in the temple of memory from which the image is never cast out to be thrown on the rubbish heap of things that are outgrown and outlived.”
― Howard Pyle

“An I must drink sour ale, I must, but never have I yielded to a man before, and that without would or mark upon my body. Nor, when I bethink me, will I yield now.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“It may be," said he, "that the wisdom of little children flies higher than our heavy wits can follow.”
― Howard Pyle, Otto of the Silver Hand

“When the flood cometh it sweepeth away grain as well as chaff.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“And, indeed it is a very pleasant thing for to ride forth in the dawning of a Springtime day. For then the little birds do sing their sweetest song, all joining in one joyous medley, whereof one may scarce tell one note from another, so multitudinous is that pretty roundelay; then do the growing things of the earth smell the sweetest in the freshness of the early daytime—the fair flowers, the shrubs, and the blossoms upon the trees; then doth the dew bespangle all the sward as with an incredible multitude of jewels of various colors; then is all the world sweet and clean and new, as though it had been fresh created for him who came to roam abroad so early in the morning.”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

“Yea, he who is a true king of men, will not say to himself, 'Lo! I am worthy to be crowned with laurels;' but rather will he say to himself, 'What more is there that I may do to make the world the better because of my endeavors?”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

“Let us e'er be merry while we may, for man is but dust, and he hath but a span to live here till the worm getteth him, as our good gossip Swanthold sayeth; so let life be merry while it lasts, say I.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“So endeth the story of the winning of Excalibur, and may God give unto you in your life, that you may have His truth to aid you, like a shining sword, for to overcome your enemies; and may He give you Faith (for Faith containeth Truth as a scabbard containeth its sword), and may that Faith heal all your wounds of sorrow as the sheath of Excalibur healed all the wounds of him who wore that excellent weapon. For with Truth and Faith girded upon you, you shall be as well able to fight all your battles as did that noble hero of old, whom men called King Arthur.”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

“Tis the land of Fancy, and is of that pleasant kind that, when you tire of it,—whisk!—you clap the leaves of this book together and 'tis gone, and you are ready for every-day life, with no harm done.”
― Howard Pyle

“You who so plod amid serious things that you feel it
shame to give yourself up even for a few short moments
to mirth and joyousness in the land of Fancy; you who
think that life hath nought to do with innocent laughter
that can harm no one; these pages are not for you”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“Lo, God! I am Thy handiwork. I have sinned and have done great evil, yet I am still Thy handiwork, who hath made me what I am. So, though I may not undo that which I have done, yet I may, with Thy aid, do better hereafter than I have done heretofore.”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions

“IN MERRY ENGLAND in the time of old, when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham Town, a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood.”
― Howard Pyle, The merry adventures of Robin Hood of great renown in Nottinghamshire

“Now there was no sign of any foul weather, but when one wishes to do a thing . . . one finds no lack of reasons for the doing.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“Gaffer Swanthold speaks truth when he saith, 'Better a crust with content than honey with a sour heart.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“Thus Arthur achieved the adventure of the sword that day and entered into his birthright of royalty. Wherefore, may God grant His Grace unto you all that ye too may likewise succeed in your undertakings. For any man may be a king in that life in which he is placed if so he may draw forth the sword of success from out of the iron of circumstance. Wherefore when your time of assay cometh, I do hope it may be with you as it was with Arthur that day, and that ye too may achieve success with entire satisfaction unto yourself and to your great glory and perfect happiness.”
― Howard Pyle

“For any man may be a king in that life in which he is placed if so be he may draw forth the sword of success from out of the iron of circumstance. Where fore when your time of assay cometh, I do hope it may be with you as it was with Arthur that day, and that ye too may achieve success with entire satisfaction unto yourself and to your great glory and perfect happiness.”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

“And now, dear friend, - You who have journeyed with me in all these merry doings, - I will not bid you follow me further, but will drop your hand here with a "good den," if you wish it; for that which cometh hereafter speaks of the breaking up of things, and shows how joys and pleasures that are dead and gone can never be set upon their feet to walk again.”
― Howard Pyle, Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“For ages past the Genius of Literature and the Genius of Art have walked together hand in hand. For the Goddess of letters is blind, and only she of Art can lend her sight.”
― Howard Pyle

“So passed the seasons then, so they pass now, and so they will pass in tome to come, while we come and go like leaves of the tree that fall and are soon forgotten.”
― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

“And it was at this time that Sir Myles died of his hurt, for it is often so that death and misfortune befall some, whiles others laugh and sing for hope and joy, as though such grievous things as sorrow and death could never happen in the world wherein they live.”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

“What is done is done; and the egg cracked cannot be cured.”
― Howard Pyle, The Adventures of Robin Hood

“I cannot waste my time teaching mediocrity," to J. Henry Harper, when he quit teaching an open-to-all illustrating class at Drexel Institute... from Where Your Heart Is...The Story of Harvey Dunn, Artist. page 32.”
― Howard Pyle

“However, if Sir Launcelot of the Lake failed now and then in his behavior, who is there in the world shall say, 'I never fell into error'? And if he more than once offended, who is there shall have hardihood to say, 'I never committed offence'?”
― Howard Pyle, The Story of the Champions of the Round Table