The future influences the present just as much as the past.

The future influences the present just as much as the past.

Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
To read more

Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
To lower good, and beauties less divine,
Sometimes my erroneous needle does incline;
But yet (so strong the sympathy)
It turns, and points again to Thee.

Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.

Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.

He raised a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

He raised a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

There is no such thing as a good influence. Because to influence a person is to give him one's own read more

There is no such thing as a good influence. Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtures are not real to him. His sins, if there are such thing as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him.

Spontaneously to God should turn the soul,
Like the magnetic needle to the pole;
But what were read more

Spontaneously to God should turn the soul,
Like the magnetic needle to the pole;
But what were that intrinsic virtue worth,
Suppose some fellow, with more zeal than knowledge,
Fresh from St. Andrew's College,
Should nail the conscious needle to the north?

The very room, coz she was in,
Seemed warm f'om floor to ceilin'.

The very room, coz she was in,
Seemed warm f'om floor to ceilin'.

Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole
city is affected by read more

Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole
city is affected by the licentious passions and vices of great
men, so it is likewise reformed by their moderation.

By the golden chain Homer meant nothing else than the sun.

By the golden chain Homer meant nothing else than the sun.