Robert Burns > Quotes

“We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since days of long ago.”
― Robert Burns

“My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune.

How fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas gang dry.

Till all the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love.
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
Though it were ten thousand mile.”
― Robert Burns

“But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love forever.”
― Robert Burns

“O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion.”
― Robert Burns, The complete poetical works of Robert Burns

“Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.”
― Robert Burns

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.”
― Robert Burns, Collected Poems of Robert Burns

“There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.”
― Robert Burns, Collected Poems of Robert Burns

“But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, it's bloom is shed;
Or, like the snow-fall in the river,
A moment white, then melts forever.”
― Robert Burns, Tam o' Shanter

“But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love forever.
Had we never lou'd sae kindly,
Had we never lou'd sae blindly,
Never met - or never parted -
We had ne'er been broken hearted”
― Robert Burns, Robert Burns: Selected Poems and Songs

“My Heart's In The Highlands



Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Chorus.-My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands, &c.”
― Robert Burns

“Ye Hypocrites, are these your pranks
To murder men and gie God thanks
Desist for shame, proceed no further
God won't accept your thanks for murder.”
― Robert Burns

“Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met -- or never parted --
we had ne'er been broken-hearted”
― Robert Burns, Collected Poems of Robert Burns

“While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things,
The fate of empires and the fall of kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp the Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention.”
― Robert Burns, The Complete Works of Robert Burns

“The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley.
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

(To A Mouse)”
― Robert Burns, Collected Poems of Robert Burns

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
― Robert Burns, To a Mouse

“My heart is sair-I dare na tell,
My heart is sair for Somebody.”
― Robert Burns

“Gin a body meet a body
Coming thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body—
Need a body cry?”
― Robert Burns

“Some books are lies frae end to end,
And some great lies were never penn'd...”
― Robert Burns

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.”
― Robert Burns

“Not the bee upon the blossom,
In the pride o' sunny noon;
Not the little sporting fairy,
All beneath the simmer moon;
Not the poet, in the moment
Fancy lightens in his e'e,
Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture,
That thy presence gi'es to me.”
― Robert Burns

“Oh would some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as others see us.”
― Robert Burns

“My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.”
― Robert Burns

“Oh the gift that God could give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”
― Robert Burns

“Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie! ”
― Robert Burns

“And man, whose heav'n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!”
― Robert Burns

“But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
Still you are blest, compared with me!”
― Robert Burns

“Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.--Robert Burns”
― Robert Burns

“Flow gently, sweet Afton,
amang thy green braes,
Flow gently, I'll sing thee
a song in thy praise;
My Mary's asleep
by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton,
disturb not her dream.

Thou stock dove whose echo
resounds thro' the glen,
Ye wild whistly blackbirds
in yon thorny den,
Thou green crested lapwing
thy screaming forbear,
I charge you, disturb not
my slumbering fair.

How lofty, sweet Afton,
thy neighboring hills,
Far mark'd with the courses
of clear winding rills;
There daily I wander
as noon rises high,
My flocks and my Mary's
sweet cot in my eye.

How pleasant thy banks
and green valleys below,
Where, wild in the woodlands,
the primroses blow;
There oft, as mild evening
weeps over the lea,
The sweet-scented birk shades
my Mary and me.

Thy crystal stream, Afton,
how lovely it glides,
And winds by the cot where
my Mary resides;
How wanton thy waters
her snowy feet lave,
As, gathering sweet flowerets,
she stems thy clear wave.

Flow gently, sweet Afton,
amang thy green braes,
Flow gently, sweet river,
the theme of my lays;
My Mary's asleep
by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton,
disturb not her dreams.”
― Robert Burns

“By Oppression's woes and pains!
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free!

Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!
Let us do or die!”
― Robert Burns

“But deep this truth impress'd my mind:
Thro' all His works abroad,
The heart benevolent and kind
The most resembles God.”
― Robert Burns, Collected Poems of Robert Burns