Edward Bulwer-Lytton Quotes

He is certainly a man who bathes and "lives cleanly," (two especial charges preferred against him by Messrs. the Great Unwashed).

Believe me that the happiest act of intellect, however lofty, is that which enables it to be cheerfully at home with the Real!

Real philosophy seeks rather to solve than to deny.

Happy the man who hath never known what it is to taste of fame—to have it is a purgatory, to want it is a hell!

A good heart is better than all the heads in the world.

Alone!—that worn-out word,
So idly spoken, and so coldly heard;
Yet all that poets sing, and grief hath known,
Of hope laid waste, knells in that word ALONE!

Life consists in the alternate process of learning and unlearning; but it is often wiser to unlearn than to learn.

The man who succeeds above his fellows is the one who, early in life, clearly discerns his object, and towards that object habitually directs his powers. Even genius itself is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose. Every man who observes vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius.

The heart loves repose and the soul contemplation, but the mind needs action.

Childhood and genius have the same master-organ in common—inquisitiveness. Let childhood have its way, and as it began where genius begins, it may find what genius finds.

Truth makes on the ocean of nature no one track of light—every eye looking on finds its own.

The Wind and the Beam loved the Rose, And the Rose loved one:
For who recks the Wind where it blows? Or loves not the Sun?None knew whence the humble Wind stole, Poor sport of the skies:
None dreamt that the Wind had a soul In its mournful sighs.O happy Beam, how canst thou prove That bright love of thine?
In thy light is the proof of thy love, Thou hast but to shine.How its love can the Wind reveal? Unwelcome its sigh:
Mute, mute to the Rose let it steal— Its proof is—to die!

Little minds give importance to the man who gives importance to nothing.

Buy my flowers—O buy—I pray!
The blind girl comes from afar;
If the earth be as fair as her children say,
These flowers her children are!

To the man who aspires to know, no man who has been the meanest student of knowledge should be unknown.