God be thank'd that the dead have left still
Good undone for the living to do--
Still read more

God be thank'd that the dead have left still
Good undone for the living to do--
Still some aim for the heart and the will
And the soul of a man to pursue.

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be read more

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.

Why, universal plodding poisons up
The nimble spirits in the arteries,
As motion and long-during action tires
read more

Why, universal plodding poisons up
The nimble spirits in the arteries,
As motion and long-during action tires
The sinewy vigor of the traveller.

I am gradually approaching the period in my life when work comes
first. . . . No longer diverted read more

I am gradually approaching the period in my life when work comes
first. . . . No longer diverted by other emotions, I work the way
a cow grazes.

Let us take to our hearts a lesson--
No lesson could braver be--
From the ways of read more

Let us take to our hearts a lesson--
No lesson could braver be--
From the ways of the tapestry weavers
On the other side of the sea.

I have had my labor for my travail; ill-thought-on of her, and
ill-thought-on of you; gone between and between, read more

I have had my labor for my travail; ill-thought-on of her, and
ill-thought-on of you; gone between and between, but small thanks
for my labor.

How many a rustic Milton has passed by,
Stifling the speechless longings of his heart,
In unremitting read more

How many a rustic Milton has passed by,
Stifling the speechless longings of his heart,
In unremitting drudgery and care!
How many a vulgar Cato has compelled
His energies, no longer tameless then,
To mould a pin, or fabricate a nail!

But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and
pen,
We will work for ourself read more

But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and
pen,
We will work for ourself and a woman, for ever and ever, Amen.

Earned with the sweat of my brows.

Earned with the sweat of my brows.