Quotes

“We are no other than a moving row / Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go.”

“Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire, / And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire, / Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves, / So late emerged from, shall so soon expire.”

“Oh, threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise! / One thing at least is certain — This Life flies; / One thing is certain and the rest is Lies; / The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.”

“Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit / Of This and That endeavour and dispute / Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape / Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.”

“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon / Turns Ashes — or it prospers; and anon, / Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face, / Lighting a little hour or two — is gone.”

“Some for the Glories of This World; and some / Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come; / Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go, / Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum!”

“Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn / In flowing Purple, their Lord forlorn; / Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal’d / And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.”

“A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, / A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread — and Thou / Beside me singing in the Wilderness — / Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!”

“Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say; / Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?”

“Whether at Naishapur or Babylon, / Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run, / The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, / The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.”

“Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring / Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling: / The Bird of Time has but a little way / To flutter — and the Bird is on the Wing.”

“Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight / The Stars before him from the Field of Night, / Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes / The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.”

What are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourselves!

The sergeant's widow told you a lie when she said I flogged her. I never flogged her. She flogged herself.

I tell everyone very plainly that I take bribes, but what kind of bribes? Why, greyhound puppies. That's a totally different matter.

The more destruction there is everywhere, the more it shows the activity of town authorities.

Of course, Alexander the Great was a hero, but why smash the chairs?

It is no use to blame the looking glass if your face is awry.

All the world knows that France sneezes when England takes a pinch of snuff.

To tell the truth, I often felt uneasy when I thought of the excessive brittleness and fragility of the moon. The moon is generally repaired in Hamburg, and very imperfectly. It is done by a lame cooper, an obvious blockhead who has no idea how to do it. He took waxed thread and olive-oil—hence that pungent smell over all the earth which compels people to hold their noses. And this makes the moon so fragile that no men can live on it, but only noses. Therefore we cannot see our noses, because they are on the moon.