New occasions teach new duties. James Russell Lowell More Quotes by James Russell Lowell More Quotes From James Russell Lowell Borrowed garments never keep one warm. James Russell Lowell borrowedplagiarismgarments It is singular how impatient men are with overpraise of others, how patient of overpraise of themselves; and yet the one does them no injury, while the other may be their ruin. James Russell Lowell doemaymen In the parliament of the present every man represents a constituency of the past. James Russell Lowell parliamentmenpast It is curious how tyrannical the habit of reading is... James Russell Lowell curioushabitreason Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to read means? That it is the key which admits us to the whole world of thought and fancy and imagination? to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moment? That it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of all time? More than that, it annihilates time and space for us. James Russell Lowell eyereadingmean Reading Chaucer is like brushing through the dewy grass at sunrise. James Russell Lowell sunrisereadinggrass God does not weigh criminality in our scales. We have one absolute, with the seal of authority upon it; and with us an ounce is an ounce, and a pound a pound. God's measure is the heart of the offender,--a balance which varies with every one of us, a balance so delicate that a tear cast in the other side may make the weight of error kick the beam. James Russell Lowell balanceerrorsheart The intellect has only one failing, which, to be sure, is a very considerable one. It has no conscience. James Russell Lowell intellectconsciencefailing Faith in God, faith in man, faith in work: this is the short formula in which we may sum up the teachings of the founders of New England,--a creed ample enough for this life and the next. James Russell Lowell teachingfaithmen Fastidiousness is only another word for egotism; and all men who know not where to look for truth save in the narrow well of self will find their own image at the bottom, and mistake it for what they are seeking. James Russell Lowell selfmistakemen There are two kinds of genius. The first and highest may be said to speak out of the eternal to the present, and must compel its age to understand it; the second understands its age, and tells it what it wishes to be told. James Russell Lowell speaks-outwishtwo The true historical genius, to our thinking, is that which can see the nobler meaning of events that are near him, as the true poet is he who detects the divine in the casual; and we somewhat suspect the depth of his insight into the past who cannot recognize the godlike of to-day under that disguise in which it always visits us. James Russell Lowell historicalpastthinking History is clarified experience. James Russell Lowell history Console yourself, dear man and brother; whatever you may be sure of, be sure at least of this, that you are dreadfully like other people. Human nature has a much greater genius for sameness than for originality. James Russell Lowell brothermenpeople It is the vain endeavor to make ourselves what we are not that has strewn history with so many broken purposes and lives left in the rough. James Russell Lowell vainbrokenpurpose To have greatly dreamed precludes low ends. James Russell Lowell endslows In the scale of the destinies, brawn will never weigh so mach as brain. James Russell Lowell scalesdestinybrain It is only the intellect that can be thoroughly and hideously wicked. It can forget everything in the attainment of its ends. The heart recoils; in its retired some drops of childhood's dew still linger, defying manhood's fiery noon. James Russell Lowell childhoodforget-everythingheart The discontent with the existing order of things pervaded the atmosphere, wherever the conditions were favorable, long before Columbus, seeking the back door of Asia, found himself knocking at the front door of America. James Russell Lowell doorsorderamerica Most religion-mongers have bated their paradises with a bit of toasted cheese. They have tempted the body with large promises of possessions in their transmortal El Dorado. Sancho Panza will not quit his chimney-corner, but under promise of imaginary islands to govern. James Russell Lowell islandspromisereligion
