Dreams or illusions, call them what you will, they lift us from the commonplace of life to better things.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowChill air and wintry winds! My ear has grown familiar with your song; I hear it in the opening year, I listen, and it cheers me long.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowWould you learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers, comprehend its mystery!
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowWhat child has a heart to sing in this capricious clime of ours, when spring comes sailing in from the sea, with wet and heavy cloud-sails and the misty pennon of the east-wind nailed to the mast.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowI heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward From an eagle in his flight.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowA boy's will is the wind's will, and the thought's of youth are long, long thoughhts
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowMagnificent autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds; not like a hermit, clad in gray; but like a warrior with the stain of blood in his brazen mail.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHow wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul. The intellect of man is enthroned visibly on his forehead and in his eye, and the heart of man is written on his countenance, but the soul, the soul reveals itself in the voice only.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowIt was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, - always do what you are afraid to do.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowVery hot and still the air was, Very smooth the gliding river, Motionless the sleeping shadows.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowStay, stay at home, my heart and rest; Home-keeping hearts are the happiest, For those that wander they know not where Are full of trouble and full of care; To stay at home is best.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowSoftly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon Like a magician extended his golden want o'er the landscape; Trinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowTo charm, to strengthen, and to teach: these are the three great chords of might.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe greatest grace of a gift, perhaps, is that it anticipates and admits of no return.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowMercy more becomes a magistrate than the vindictive wrath which men call justice.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Wreck of the Hesperus But the father answered never a word, A frozen corpse was he.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowMany have genius, but, wanting art, are forever dumb. The two must go together to form the great poet, painter, or sculptor.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowIt is folly to pretend that one ever wholly recovers from a disappointed passion. Such wounds always leave a scar. There are faces I can never look upon without emotion, there are names I can never hear spoken without almost starting.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAuthors have a greater right than any copyright, though it is generally unacknowledged or disregarded. They have a right to the reader's civility. There are favorable hours for reading a book, as for writing it, and to these the author has a claim. Yet many people think that when they buy a book they buy with it the right to abuse the author.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAs turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so change of studies a dull brain.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowIn the life of every man there are sudden transitions of feeling, which seem almost miraculous. At once, as if some magician had touched the heavens and the earth, the dark clouds melt into the air, the wind falls, and serenity succeeds the storm. The causes which produce these changes may have been long at work within us, but the changes themselves are instantaneous, and apparently without sufficient cause.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowWe have not wings we cannot soar; but, we have feet to scale and climb, by slow degrees, by more and more, the cloudy summits of our time.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowYe are better than all the ballads That ever were sung or said; For ye are living poems, And all the rest are dead.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowKind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, Kind words, and Kind deeds.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow