Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Robert Southey
59 quotes
“If you would be pungent, be brief ; for it is with words as with sunbeams—the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, Both Ancient and Modern, ed. Tryon Edwards, F. B. Dickerson Company (1908), p. 52
“Cold is thy heart and as frozen as Charity!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Soldier's Wife, l. 11 (1795).
“You are old, Father William." the young man cried, "The few locks which are left you are grey; You are hale, Father William—a hearty old man: Now tell me the reason, I pray.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them, st. 1 (1799).
“In my days of youth, I remembered my God, And he hath not forgotten my age.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar's work was done, And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun, And by him sported on the green His little grandchild Wilhelmine.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He came to ask what he had found, That was so large, and smooth, and round.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he, "Who fell in the great victory.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But what they fought each other for I could not well make out.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And everybody praised the Duke Who this great fight did win." "But what good came of it at last?" Quoth little Peterkin. "Why, that I cannot tell," said he, "But 'twas a famous victory.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From his brimstone bed, at break of day, A-walking the Devil is gone, To look at his little, snug farm of the World, And see how his stock went on.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How, then, was the Devil dressed? Oh! he was in his Sunday's best; His coat was red, and his breeches were blue, And there was a hole where his tail came through.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He passed a cottage with a double coach-house, A cottage of gentility; And he owned with a grin That his favorite sin Is pride that apes humility.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thou hast confessions to listen, And bells to christen, And altars and dolls to dress; And fools to coax, And sinners to hoax, And beads and bones to bless; And great pardons to sell For those who pay well, And small ones for those who pay less.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At this good news, so great The Devil's pleasure grew, That, with a joyful swish, he rent The hole where his tail came through.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Great news! bloody news!" cried a newsman; The Devil said, "Stop, let me see!" "Great news? bloody news?" thought the Devil; "The bloodier the better for me.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How beautiful is night! A dewy freshness fills the silent air; No mist obscures; nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain, Breaks the serene of heaven: In full-orbed glory, yonder moon divine Rolls through the dark blue depths; Beneath her steady ray The desert circle spreads Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky. How beautiful is night!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thalaba the Destroyer, Bk. I, st. 1 (1800).
“And then they knew the perilous Rock, And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Inchcape Rock, st. 4 (1802).
“Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock, “Oh Christ! It is the Inchcape Rock!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every body is a critic.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Robert Rickman (30 May 1804)
“Will ye believe The wonders of the ocean? how its shoals Sprang from the wave, like flashing light; .. took wing, And, twinkling with a silver glitterance, Flew through the air and sunshine? yet were they To sight less wondrous than the tribe who swam, Following like fowlers, with uplifted eye, Their falling quarry: .. language cannot paint Their splendid tints! though in blue ocean seen, Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue, In all its rich variety of shades, Suffus'd with glowing gold.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Madoc in Wales, Part I, Sec. V - 48 (1805). Compare: "'Darkly, deeply, beautifully blue,' As some one somewhere sings about the sky", Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto iv. stanza 110.
“What will not woman, gentle woman dare, When strong affection stirs her spirit up?”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Madoc in Wales, Part II, 2 (1805).
“And last of all an Admiral came, A terrible man with a terrible name,— A name which you all know by sight very well, But which no one can speak, and no one can spell.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1814 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: March to Moscow, St. 8 (1814).
“Where Washington hath left His awful memory A light for after times!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1814 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ode written during the War with America (1814).
“The laws are with us, and God on our side.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1817 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Rise and Progress of Popular Disaffection, Essay viii, Vol. ii (1817).
“My days among the Dead are past; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing friends are they, With whom I converse day by day.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Days Among the Dead Are Past, st. 1 (1818).
“Yet leaving here a name, I trust, That will not perish in the dust.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They sin who tell us love can die; With life all other passions fly, All others are but vanity. . . . . . Love is indestructible, Its holy flame forever burneth; From heaven it came, to heaven returneth. . . . . . It soweth here with toil and care, But the harvest-time of love is there.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in infancy, Hath she not then for pains and fears, The day of woe, the watchful night, For all her sorrow, all her tears, An over-payment of delight?”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thou hast been called, O sleep! the friend of woe; But ’tis the happy that have called thee so.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Agreed to differ.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1820 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Life of Wesley (1820).
“The Satanic school.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vision of Judgment, original preface (1821).
“How little do they see what is, who frame Their hasty judgement upon that which seems!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Tale of Paraguay (1827), Canto IV, Stanza 54.
“The arts babblative and scribblative.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1829 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, No. 1, pt. 2 (1829).
“The march of intellect.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How does the water Come down at Lodore?”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I told them in rhyme, For of rhymes I had store.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From its fountains In the mountains, Its rills and its gills; Through moss and through brake, It runs and it creeps For a while, till it sleeps In its own little lake.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It runs through the reeds, And away it proceeds, Through meadow and glade, In sun and in shade, And through the wood-shelter, Among crags in its flurry, Helter-skelter, Hurry-skurry.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rising and leaping, Sinking and creeping, Swelling and sweeping, Showering and springing, Flying and flinging, Writhing and ringing, Eddying and whisking, Spouting and frisking, Turning and twisting, Around and around With endless rebound: Smiting and fighting, A sight to delight in; Confounding, astounding, Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And so never ending, but always descending, Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar, — And this way the water comes down at Lodore.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Charlotte Brontë in March 1837, reported in Gaskell The life of Charlotte Brontë, Vol. I (1857), p. 139, and in Mumby Letters of Literary Men, Vol. II (1906), p. 185.
“Write poetry for its own sake — not in a spirit of emulation, and not with a view to celebrity; the less you aim at that the more likely you will be to deserve and finally to obtain it.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Charlotte Brontë in March 1837; Gaskell The life of Charlotte Brontë, Vol. I (1857), p. 140.
“And then she went to the porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Story of the Three Bears", The Doctor (1837).
“Somebody has been sitting in my chair!”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Story of the Three Bears", The Doctor (1837).
“Wild dreams! but such As Plato lov'd; such as with holy zeal Our Milton worshipp'd. Blessed hopes! awhile From man with-held, even to the latter days When Christ shall come, and all things be fulfill'd.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No sooner was the Baltic open to our merchants, than corn was bought up there for importation into England; at the same time the continent was glutted with English goods, which, because the supply greatly exceeded the demand, were sold at less than their prime cost, and upon which the foreign governments soon laid new duties...to prevent the ruin of their own manufactures. This might have been a salutary lesson, if nations were ever rendered wise by experience; it might have taught us that, however willing one part of this nation might be to see the other ruined by the free admission of foreign grain, foreign governments would never consent to have their fabrics destroyed by the unrestricted introduction of British goods. It is a sound maxim in politics, whatever it may be in morals, that charity begins at home.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'On the Corn-Laws', The Quarterly Review, Vol. LI. (March & June 1834), p. 231
“You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "The few locks which are left you are gray; You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man,-- Now tell me the reason I pray.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing friends are they, With whom I converse day by day.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Through moss and through brake.”
Robert Southey (1774–1843) said by 1843 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source