Robert Browning
England
7 May 1812 // 12 Dec 1889
Poet, Playwright
7 May 1812 // 12 Dec 1889
Poet, Playwright
Quotes
Stung by the splendor of a sudden thought.
Such ever was love's way: to rise, it stoops.
That great brow
And the spirit-small hand propping it.
And the spirit-small hand propping it.
'T is not what man does which exalts him, but what man would do.
The body sprang
At once to the height, and stayed; but the soul, no!
At once to the height, and stayed; but the soul, no!
The ultimate, angels' law,
Indulging every instinct of the soul
There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!
Indulging every instinct of the soul
There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!
Progress, man's distinctive mark alone,
Not God's, and not the beasts: God is, they are;
Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be.
Not God's, and not the beasts: God is, they are;
Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be.
For I say this is death and the sole death,
When a man's loss comes to him from his gain,
Darkness from light, from knowledge ignorance,
And lack of love from love made manifest.
When a man's loss comes to him from his gain,
Darkness from light, from knowledge ignorance,
And lack of love from love made manifest.
For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love,
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love,
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.
What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets:
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets:
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.
Search
On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays