All Quotes

"We, hedge-hogged as Johnson or Borrow, strange to the yoke As Landor, surly as Cobbett (that badger), birdlike as Blake."

"Science is for those who learn; poetry, for those who know."

"A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool."

"Experience comprises illusions lost, rather than wisdom gained."

"The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which we are least ready to pardon in another."

"It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent."

"Like those statues which must be made larger than "nature" in order that, viewed from below, or from a distance, they may appear to be of the "natural" size, certain truths must be "strained" in order that the public may form a just idea of them."

"Say nothing good of yourself, you will be distrusted; say nothing bad of yourself, you will be taken at your word."

"The happiness which is lacking makes one think even the happiness one has unbearable."

"We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence."

"I think I can best do my work as a head of a family, as a nurturer, for the family, meaning a nurturer for Pittsburgh, and in that sense what we do here can be applicable in many places in the world."

"You said something I didn't say. Now shove it."

"They want four more years of hell."

"Three more months!"

"I want you to issue a challenge for me to debate Howard Dean."

"No one warns young people to follow Adam's example. He waited till God saw his need. Then God made Adam sleep, prepared for his mate, and brought her to him. We need more of this 'being asleep' in the will of God. Then we can receive what He brings us in His own time, if at all. Instead we are set as bloodhounds after a partner, considering everyone we see until our minds are so concerned with the sex problem that we can talk of nothing else when bull-session time comes around. It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women — but he can think of them as he ought — as sisters, not as sparring partners!"

"He is no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that which he cannot lose."

"न रत्नमन्विष्यति मृग्यते हि तत्"

"If a professor thinks what matters most Is to have gained an academic post Where he can earn a livelihood, and then Neglect research, let controversy rest, He's but a petty tradesman at the best, Selling retail the work of other men."

"There in the fane a beauteous creature stands, The first best work of the Creator's hands; Whose slender limbs inadequately bear A full orbed bosom, and a weight of care; Whose teeth like pearls, whose lips like Bimbas show, And fawn-like eyes still tremble as they glow."

"O my good fortune, please subdue the anguish of your Soul. Nobody is destined only to happiness or to pain. The wheel of life takes one up and down by turn."

"God Shiva and his mountain bride, Like word and meaning unified, The world's great parents, I beseech To join fit meaning to my speech."

"O thou who didst create this All, Who dost preserve it, lest it fall, Who wilt destroy it and its ways— To thee, O triune Lord, be praise."

"Though many different paths, O Lord, May lead us to some great reward, They gather and are merged in thee Like floods of Ganges in the sea."

"We have watered the trees that blossom in the summer-time. Now let's sprinkle those whose flowering-time is past. That will be a better deed, because we shall not be working for a reward."

"A thought is as vivid as an act, to a lover."

"Did the great Creator first draw her in a masterpiece, And then touch life into his art? Or did he make her in his mind alone, Drawing on beauty’s every part? No—considering her singular perfection And her maker’s true omnipotence, I suppose her some quite unique creation In femininity’s treasure house."

"A blossom yet unsmelt, A tender shoot unpinched, A gem uncut, Untasted, fresh-fermented honey-wine, The fruit of proper actions Still intact— A beauty without fault or flaw."

"Grief must be shared to be endured."

"What is intended to be said, if left unsaid, becomes a matter of regret later."

"Be brave, and check the rising tears That dim your lovely eyes."

"A bee may be born in a hole in a tree, but she likes the honey of the lotus."

"May lily-dotted lakes delight your eye; May shade-trees bid the heat of noonday cease; May soft winds blow the lotus-pollen nigh; May all your path be pleasantness and peace."

"Because your heart, by loving fancies blinded, Has scorned a guest in pious life grown old, Your lover shall forget you though reminded, Or think of you as of a story told."

"The mind of age is like a lamp Whose oil is running thin; One moment it is shining bright, Then darkness closes in."

"अनुभवति हि मूर्ध्ना पादपस्तीव्रमुष्णं । शमयति परितापं छायया संश्रितानाम् ॥"

"It is just such women, selfish, sweet, false, that entice fools."

"I cannot taste the sweet, and cannot leave it."

"To be a king, is to be a disappointed man."

"A good man never lets grief get the upper hand. The mountains are calm even in a tempest."

"I treated her with scorn and loathing ever; Now o’er her pictured charms my heart will burst: A traveller I, who scorned the mighty river, And seeks in the mirage to quench his thirst."

"A graceful arch of brows above great eyes; Lips bathed in darting, smiling light that flies Reflected from white teeth; a mouth as red As red karkandhu-fruit; love’s brightness shed O’er all her face in bursts of liquid charm— The picture speaks, with living beauty warm."

"The tear drop that once stood trembling on your lower lip —and I watched uncaring, lost in delusion— while it still clings to your gently-curving lashes, I shall now wipe away, my beloved, to free myself of remorse."

"May kingship benefit the land, And wisdom grow in scholars’ band; May Shiva see my faith on earth And make me free of all rebirth."

"The autumn comes, a maiden fair In slenderness and grace, With nodding rice-stems in her hair And lilies in her face. In flowers of grasses she is clad; And as she moves along, Birds greet her with their cooing glad Like bracelets' tinkling song."

"Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn! Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief Course lie all the Varieties and Realities of your Existence: The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action, The Splendour of Beauty; For Yesterday is but a Dream And Tomorrow is only a Vision; But Today well lived makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. Look well therefore to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!"

"L. V. Ramachandra Iyer, Abhigyanashakuntalam (Madras: Oriental Press, 1905)"

"M. R. Kale, Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava Cantos I-VII (Bombay: Standard Publishing Co., 1917)"

"John Brough, Poems from the Sanskrit (London: Penguin, 1968) no. 165"

"Arthur W. Ryder, Kalidasa: Translations of Shakuntala and Other Writings (Everyman's Library, 1920 [1912])"