Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

United States
27 Feb 1807 // 24 Mar 1882
Poet

Quotes



The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not obtained by sudden flight
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

Standing on what too long we bore
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern - unseen before,
A path to higher destinies.
Saint Augustine! well has thou said,
That of our vices we can frame
A ladder, if we will but tread
Beneath our feet each deed of shame! ...

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
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