Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Of course everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a
great deal better to be made in that read more

Of course everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a
great deal better to be made in that way than not to be made at
all.

The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entomb'd in autumn lies;
The dew dries up; read more

The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entomb'd in autumn lies;
The dew dries up; the star is shot;
The flight is past--and man forgot.

Thou art a female, Katydid!
I know it by the trill
That quivers through thy piercing notes
read more

Thou art a female, Katydid!
I know it by the trill
That quivers through thy piercing notes
So petulant and shrill.
I think there is a knot of you
Beneath the hollow tree,
A knot of spinster Katydids,--
Do Katydids drink tea?

I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we
stand as in what read more

I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we
stand as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of
heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes
against it--but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

No, my friends, I go (always other things being equal) for the
man that inherits family traditions and the read more

No, my friends, I go (always other things being equal) for the
man that inherits family traditions and the cumulative humanities
of at least four or five generations.