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James Russell Lowell Quotes

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Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

James Russell Lowell
Truth, Men, Light
'The Present Crisis' (1845)

The greater your real strength and power, the quieter it will be exercised.

James Russell Lowell
Real, Vehemence, Greater

One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.

James Russell Lowell
Educational, Knowledge, Understanding
James Russell Lowell (1870). “Among My Books”, p.223

Such power there is in clear-eyed self-restraint.

James Russell Lowell
Power, Self, Restraint
James Russell Lowell (1891). “The Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell”

All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.

James Russell Lowell
Love, Inspirational, Life
1867 'Rousseau and the Sentimentalists', in the North American Review, Jul.

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.

James Russell Lowell
Broken Heart, Heartbroken, Kindness
James Russell Lowell (1864). “Fireside Travels”, p.2

A wise man travels to discover himself.

James Russell Lowell
Inspirational, Wise, Travel
James Russell Lowell (1910). “Literary essays”

Our American republic will endure only as long as the ideas of the men who founded it continue dominant.

James Russell Lowell
Men, Ideas, Long

Folks never understand the folks they hate.

James Russell Lowell
Life, Happiness, Success
James Russell Lowell (2016). “Delphi Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell (Illustrated)”, p.523, Delphi Classics

Not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare.

James Russell Lowell
Friendship, Thank You, Giving
James Russell Lowell (1871). “The poetical works of James Russell Lowell”, p.122

Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day, which must be done, whether you like it or not.

James Russell Lowell
Good Morning, Thanksgiving, Gratitude

Blessed are they who have nothing to say and who cannot be persuaded to say it.

James Russell Lowell
Wisdom, Blessed
"His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Alexis in the United States of America during the winter of 1871-72", Riverside Press, 1872.

A word once vulgarized can never be rehabilitated.

James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell (1870). “Among my Books, etc”, p.161

Life is a sheet of paper white / Whereon each one of us may write / His word or two, and then comes night.

James Russell Lowell
Writing, Night, Two
James Russell Lowell, “For An Autograph”

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.

James Russell Lowell
Book, Reading, Mind
1849 'Nationality in Literature', in the North American Review, Jul.

It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of the intelligence.

James Russell Lowell
Ignorance, Intelligent, Fool
James Russell Lowell (1889). “Books and Libraries: Democracy, and Other Papers”

Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,- Yet that scaffold sways the Future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

James Russell Lowell
Truth, Forever, Shadow
'The Present Crisis' (1845)

As life runs on, the road grows strange with faces new - and near the end. The milestones into headstones change, Neath every one a friend.

James Russell Lowell
Running, Time, Reality
1887 'Sixty-Eighth Birthday'.

The brain can be easy to buy, but the heart never comes to market.

James Russell Lowell
Heart, Brain, Easy

The question of common sense is always: 'what is it good for?' - a question which would abolish the rose and be answered triumphantly by the cabbage.

James Russell Lowell
Rose, Common Sense, Cabbage
James Russell Lowell (1871). “My Study Windows”, p.250

True love is but a humble, low born thing, And hath its food served up in earthenware; It is a thing to walk with, hand in hand, Through the every-dayness of this workday world.

James Russell Lowell
Life, Humble, Love Is
James Russell Lowell, “Love”

The only conclusive evidence of a man's sincerity is that he gives himself for a principle. Words, money, all things else, are comparatively easy to give away; but when a man makes a gift of his daily life and practice, it is plain that the truth, whatever it may be, has taken possession of him.

James Russell Lowell
Taken, Men, Practice
James Russell Lowell (1870). “Among My Books: Six Essays”, p.339

Freedom is the only law which genius knows.

James Russell Lowell
Freedom, Law, Atheism
James Russell Lowell, Edward Everett Hale (1902). “Early prose writings of James Russell Lowell”

Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be unwise in statesmanship.

James Russell Lowell
Wise, Wisdom, Party
William Makepeace Thackeray, John Henry Newman, Matthew Arnold, John Ruskin, Walter Bagehot (1910). “Essays, English and American: With Introductions and Notes”

Time is, after all, the greatest of poets; and the sons of Memory stand a better chance of being the heirs of Fame.

James Russell Lowell
Time, Memories, Son
James Russell Lowell (1871). “My Study Windows”, p.64

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