Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
ability action life man passion peril required share
As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at the peril of being not to have lived.
achievement inevitable mode pass
The mode in which the inevitable comes to pass is through effort.
awful begins bid brothers chorus dead death destinies glory good great joy lent life note orchestra passion powers seen sound unseen youth
Our dead brothers still live for us and bid us think of life, not death / of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and glory of Spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil, our trumpets, sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.
action judged life man passion peril required share
Life is action and passion; therefore, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of the time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.
adversity bad capacity creates embrace formula handle meet pass speaking terms treating trouble
If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don't embrace trouble; that's as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.
passion equality envy
I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy - I don't disparage envy, but I don't accept it as legitimately my master.
ancestry features good limbs marks persons signal sit stillness vulgar work
Stillness and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding. Vulgar persons can't sit still, or at least must always work their limbs and features.
respect
I like children; I like 'em, and I respect 'em. Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by them.
bath few music soul twice week
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water-bath is to the body.
bigot light mind pupil shine
The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract.
courtesy flatter friendship nearer necessary relation tact
Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.
fools men wise
Controversy equalizes fools and wise men - and the fools know it
conversation dreadful pathway stick
And when you stick on conversation's burrs, don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.
beware hope human
Beware how you take away hope from any human being.