Edgar Lee Masters Professions : Poet Born : August 23, 1868 Died : March 5, 1950 Browse All Authors Top 36 quotes by Edgar Lee Masters Work for your own soul's sake. Edgar Lee Masters passion soul peace To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire-It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid. Edgar Lee Masters sea desire may To love is to find your own soul Through the soul of the beloved one. Edgar Lee Masters soul love-is love Immortality is not a gift, Immortality is an achievement; And only those who strive mightily Shall possess it. Edgar Lee Masters agnostic immortality achievement To this generation I would say: Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty. Edgar Lee Masters verses this-generation generations In time you shall see Fate approach you In the shape of your own image in the mirror. Edgar Lee Masters fate shapes mirrors There is the silence of age, too full of wisdom for the tongue to utter it in words intelligible to those who have not lived the great range of life. Edgar Lee Masters intelligence silence wisdom I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea. Edgar Lee Masters stars sea men The snows and the roses of yesterday are vanished; Edgar Lee Masters what-is-love yesterday snow It takes life to love life. Edgar Lee Masters love-life life Those who first oppose a good work, seize it and make it their own, when the cornerstone is laid and memorial tablets are erected. Edgar Lee Masters tablets memorial firsts How shall the soul of a man be larger than the life he has lived? Edgar Lee Masters soul men the much-sought prize of eternal youth Is just arrested growth. Edgar Lee Masters eternal youth growth A giant as we hoped, in truth, a dwarf; A barrel of slop that shines on Lethe's wharf', Which at first seemed a vessel with sweet wine For thirsty lips. So down the swift decline You went through sloven spirit, craven heart And cynic indolence. And here the art Of molding clay has caught you for the nonce And made your shame our shame ~ Your head in bronze! Edgar Lee Masters wine sweet art Did I follow Truth wherever she led, And stand against the whole world for a cause, And uphold the weak against the strong? If I did I would be remembered among men. Edgar Lee Masters strong would-be men The tongue may be an unruly member-- But silence poisons the soul. Edgar Lee Masters silence poison soul The mind sees the world as a thing apart, And the soul makes the world at one with itself. A mirror scratched reflects no image— And this is the silence of wisdom. Edgar Lee Masters silence mirrors wisdom There is no marriage in Heaven, but there is love. Edgar Lee Masters heaven Genius is a bend in the creek where bright water has gathered, and which mirrors the trees, the sky and the banks. It just does that because it is there and the scenery is there. Talent is a fine mirror with a silver frame, with the name of the owner engraved on the back. Edgar Lee Masters mirrors rain sky And I never started to plow in my life That some one did not stop in the road And take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddle— And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, And not a single regret. Edgar Lee Masters regret broken memories Similar Authors Abdellatif Laabi poet Ihara Saikaku poet Abram Joseph Ryan poet Ingeborg Bachmann poet Izumi Shikibu poet Bion of Smyrna poet All Authors
