Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quotes

Most popular Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quotes

Art is power. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Art is power.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

art

Thy voice is celestial melody. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Thy voice is celestial melody.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Genius is infinite painstaking. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Genius is infinite painstaking.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Art is long, and Time is fleeting. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Music is the universal language of man. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Music is the universal language of man.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Look, then, into thine heart and write. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Look, then, into thine heart and write.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hope has as many lives as a cat or king. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Hope has as many lives as a cat or king.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I dislike an eye that twinkles like a star. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
I dislike an eye that twinkles like a star.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

eyes

Music is the universal language of mankind. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Music is the universal language of mankind.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

music

A thought often makes us hotter than a fire. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
A thought often makes us hotter than a fire.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

thoughts

All things come round to those who will wait. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
All things come round to those who will wait.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Waiting
Many a poem is marred by a superfluous verse. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Many a poem is marred by a superfluous verse.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Who dares
 To say that he alone has found the truth? - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Who dares
 To say that he alone has found the truth?
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Christus: A Mystery

truth

Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Voices of the Night

suffering

When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Joy, moderation, and repose slam the door on the doctor's nose. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Joy, moderation, and repose slam the door on the doctor's nose.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Through woods and mountain passes the winds, like anthems roll. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Through woods and mountain passes the winds, like anthems roll.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest," Was not spoken of the soul. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest," Was not spoken of the soul.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

death

Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art is of ending. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art is of ending.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In youth all doors open outward; in old age they all open inward. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
In youth all doors open outward; in old age they all open inward.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

youth & age

God sent his singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
God sent his singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

singing

Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors than from his virtues. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors than from his virtues.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

error

Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

unhappiness

Thy fate is the common fate of all; into each life some rain must fall. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Thy fate is the common fate of all; into each life some rain must fall.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
And the song from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of friend. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
And the song from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of friend.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

words parenting

The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing being criticized. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing being criticized.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

criticism

Being all fashioned of the self-same dust, let us be merciful as well as just. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust, let us be merciful as well as just.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Noble souls, through dust and heat,
Rise from disaster and defeat
The stronger. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Noble souls, through dust and heat,
Rise from disaster and defeat
The stronger.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Ultima Thule

disasters

As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so change of studies a dull brain. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so change of studies a dull brain.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

Brain change

It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Music is the universal language of mankind—poetry their universal pastime and delight. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Music is the universal language of mankind—poetry their universal pastime and delight.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Outre-Mer, a Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea

music

Oh, well it has been said, that there is no grief like the grief which does not speak. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Oh, well it has been said, that there is no grief like the grief which does not speak.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

sorrow

Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

ambition

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
He that respects himself is safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
He that respects himself is safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

self-respect

There's nothing in this world so sweet as love. And next to love the sweetest thing is hate. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
There's nothing in this world so sweet as love. And next to love the sweetest thing is hate.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

cynical love

The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun.  The brightness of our life is gone. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun.  The brightness of our life is gone.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

hope

Yea, music is the prophet's art; among the gifts that God hath sent, one of the most magnificent. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Yea, music is the prophet's art; among the gifts that God hath sent, one of the most magnificent.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Every man is in some sort a failure to himself.  No one ever reaches the heights to which he aspires. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Every man is in some sort a failure to himself.  No one ever reaches the heights to which he aspires.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

failure aspiration

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

self-esteem what others think judging

Youth wrenches the sceptre from old age, and sets the crown on its own head before it is entitled to it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Youth wrenches the sceptre from old age, and sets the crown on its own head before it is entitled to it.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

youth & age

All that is best in the great poets of all countries is not what is national in them, but what is universal. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
All that is best in the great poets of all countries is not what is national in them, but what is universal.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Write on your doors the saying wise and old: 'Be bold! Be bold! And everywhere — Be bold! But not too bold.' - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Write on your doors the saying wise and old: 'Be bold! Be bold! And everywhere — Be bold! But not too bold.'
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The holiest of holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
The holiest of holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Mask of Pandora and Other Writings

wedding anniversary

Take this sorrow to thy heart, and make it a part of thee, and it shall nourish thee till thou art strong again. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Take this sorrow to thy heart, and make it a part of thee, and it shall nourish thee till thou art strong again.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

sorrow

We often excuse our own want of philanthropy by giving the name of fanaticism to the more ardent zeal of others. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
We often excuse our own want of philanthropy by giving the name of fanaticism to the more ardent zeal of others.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Drift-Wood

zeal fanaticism

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

goals

Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as the blazing meteor when it descends to earth, is only a stone. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as the blazing meteor when it descends to earth, is only a stone.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Kavanagh: A Tale

genius

Let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Waiting
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

sweat

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime and, departing, leave behind us footprints in the sands of time. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime and, departing, leave behind us footprints in the sands of time.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Believe me, every heart has his secret sorrows which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Believe me, every heart has his secret sorrows which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

sorrow

Critics are sentinels in the grand army of letters, stationed at the corners of newspapers and reviews, to challenge every new author. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Critics are sentinels in the grand army of letters, stationed at the corners of newspapers and reviews, to challenge every new author.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Kavanagh

critics

A great part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
A great part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Drift-Wood

suffering enemies sorrow

And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day, Shall hold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day, Shall hold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

music

The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress. And as the evening twilight fades away the sky is filled with stars invisible by day. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress. And as the evening twilight fades away the sky is filled with stars invisible by day.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Love makes its record in deeper colors as we grow out of childhood into manhood; as the emperors signed their names in green ink when under age, but when of age in purple. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Love makes its record in deeper colors as we grow out of childhood into manhood; as the emperors signed their names in green ink when under age, but when of age in purple.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

love

The first pressure of sorrow crushes out from our hearts the best wine; afterwards the constant weight of it brings forth bitterness—the taste and stain from the lees of the vat. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
The first pressure of sorrow crushes out from our hearts the best wine; afterwards the constant weight of it brings forth bitterness—the taste and stain from the lees of the vat.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

sorrow

This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Evangeline
Many readers judge the power of a book by the shock it gives their feelings—as some savage tribes determine the power of muskets by their recoil; that being considered best which fairly prostrates the purchaser. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Many readers judge the power of a book by the shock it gives their feelings—as some savage tribes determine the power of muskets by their recoil; that being considered best which fairly prostrates the purchaser.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Kavanagh

reading

In old age our bodies are worn-out instruments, on which the soul tries in vain to play the melodies of youth. But because the instrument has lost its strings, or is out of tune, it does not follow that the musician has lost his skill. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
In old age our bodies are worn-out instruments, on which the soul tries in vain to play the melodies of youth. But because the instrument has lost its strings, or is out of tune, it does not follow that the musician has lost his skill.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

skill old age

Oh, there is nothing holier, in this life of ours, than the first consciousness of love—the first fluttering of its silken wings; the first rising sound and breath of wind which is so soon to sweep through the soul, to purify or to destroy! - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Oh, there is nothing holier, in this life of ours, than the first consciousness of love—the first fluttering of its silken wings; the first rising sound and breath of wind which is so soon to sweep through the soul, to purify or to destroy!
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hyperion

love

Some critics are like chimney-sweepers; they put out the fire below, or frighten the swallows from their nests above; they scrape a long time in the chimney, cover themselves with soot, and bring nothing away but a bag of cinders, and then sing from the top of the house as if they had built it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
Some critics are like chimney-sweepers; they put out the fire below, or frighten the swallows from their nests above; they scrape a long time in the chimney, cover themselves with soot, and bring nothing away but a bag of cinders, and then sing from the top of the house as if they had built it.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Driftwood

critics

To be seventy years old is like climbing the Alps. You reach a snow-crowned summit, and see behind you the deep valley stretching miles and miles away, and before you other summits higher and whiter, which you may have strength to climb, or may not. Then you sit down and meditate and wonder which it will be. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote.
To be seventy years old is like climbing the Alps. You reach a snow-crowned summit, and see behind you the deep valley stretching miles and miles away, and before you other summits higher and whiter, which you may have strength to climb, or may not. Then you sit down and meditate and wonder which it will be.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

age 70

Into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

adversity

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

ambition

There's nothing in this world so sweet as love,
And next to love the sweetest thing is hate!
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Spanish Student

love and hate

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it;
Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

aspiration aim high

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

greatness

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

legacy time

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Birds of Passage

achievement

Age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Morituri Salutamus

old age