From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not read more

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.

Man could not live if he were entirely impervious to sadness. Many sorrows can be endured only by being embraced, read more

Man could not live if he were entirely impervious to sadness. Many sorrows can be endured only by being embraced, and the pleasure taken in them naturally has a somewhat melancholy character. So, melancholy is morbid only when it occupies too much place in life; but it is equally morbid for it to be wholly excluded from life.

When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to read more

When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.

To banish cares, scare away sorrow and soothe pain is the business of the poet and singer.

To banish cares, scare away sorrow and soothe pain is the business of the poet and singer.

In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.

In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.

Negation is the mind's first freedom, yet a negative habit is fruitful only so long as we exert ourselves to read more

Negation is the mind's first freedom, yet a negative habit is fruitful only so long as we exert ourselves to overcome it, adapt it to our needs; once acquired it can imprison us.

I am inhabited by a cry.
Nightly it flaps out
Looking, with its hooks, for something to love.
I am read more

I am inhabited by a cry.
Nightly it flaps out
Looking, with its hooks, for something to love.
I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.

The peace makers shall be called the children of God.

The peace makers shall be called the children of God.

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.