John Greenleaf Whittier Quotes

No longer forward or behind
I look in hope or fear,
But grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.

The eyes of memory will not sleep, Its ears are open wide; And vigils with the past they keep Against my feeble will.

We lack but open eye and ear
To find the Orient's marvels here;
The still small voice in autumn's hush,
Yon maple wood the burning bush.

Beauty seen is never lost.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a failure comes about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow — You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out — The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell just how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit — It's when things seem worst that you must not quit

As yonder tower outstretches to the earth
The dark triangle of its shade alone
When the clear day is shining on its top;
So, darkness in the pathway of man's life
Is but the shadow of God's providence,
By the great Sun of wisdom cast thereon;
And what is dark below is light in heaven.

Low stir of leaves and dip of oars
And lapsing waves on quiet shores.

the joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you

The Night is Mother of the Day,
The Winter of the Spring,
And ever upon old Decay
The greenest mosses cling.

The harp at Nature's advent strung
Has never ceased to play;
The song the stars of morning sung
Has never died away.

Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew.

Strike! Thou the Master, we Thy keys,
The anthem of the destinies!
The minor of Thy loftier strain,
Our hearts shall breathe the old refrain —
"Thy will be done!"

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.

Yet sometimes glimpses on my sight,
Through present wrong the eternal right;
And, step by step, since time began,
I see the steady gain of man;

Weary lawyers with endless tongues.