Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Quotes

“A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.”

“Stupidity often saves a man from going mad.”

“To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.”

“A child's education should begin at least one hundred years before he is born.”

“The year is getting to feel rich, for his golden fruits are ripening fast, and he has a large balance in the barns, which are his banks. The members of his family have found out that he is well to do in the world. September is dressing herself in show of dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception.”

“The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.”

“We call those poets who are first to mark, Through earth's dull mist the coming of the dawn, Who see in twilight's gloom the first pale spark, While others only note that day is gone.”

“To obtain a man's opinion of you, make him mad.”

“Cupid "the little greatest enemy."”

“No families take so little medicine as those of doctors, except those of apothecaries.”

“Life as we call it, is nothing but the edge of the boundless ocean of existence when it comes upon soundings.”

“I firmly believe that if the whole material medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be better for mankind-and all the worse for the fishes.”

“A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience.”

“The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does not know what to do with genius.”

“Beware how you take away hope from any human being.”

“It is a good plan to have a book with you in all places and at all times. If you are presently without, hurry without delay to the nearest shop and buy one of mine.”

“Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.”

“Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.”

“Don't you stay at home of evenings? Don't you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet?”

“Trouble makes us one with every human being in the world - and unless we touch others, we're out of touch with life.”

“Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse. One comfort we have - Cincinnati sounds worse.”

“Simple people... are very quick to see the live facts which are going on about them.”

“Whatever comes from the brain carries the hue of the place it came from, and whatever comes from the heart carries the heat and color of its birthplace.”

“I would never use a long word, even, where a short one would answer the purpose.”

“Science is the topography of ignorance.”