Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
Winds wanders, and dews drip earthward; Rains fall, suns rise and set; Earth whirls, and all but to prosper A poor little… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
Better to me the poor mans crust, Better the blessing of the poor, Though I turn me empty from his door; That… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
God is not dumb, that he should speak no more; If thou hast wanderings in the wilderness And find'st not Sinai, 'tis… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty. — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
As life runs on, the road grows strange with faces new - and near the end. The milestones into headstones change, Neath every one… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
Where one person shapes their life by precept and example, there are a thousand who have shaped it by impulse and circumstances. — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
Most religion-mongers have bated their paradises with a bit of toasted cheese. They have tempted the body with large promises of possessions in their… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
The thing we long for, that we are For one transcendent moment. — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
It is beginning to be doubtful whether Parliament and Congress sit in Westminster and Washington, or in the editorial rooms of the leading journals,--so… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
[B]ut in literature, it should be remembered, a thing always becomes his at last who says it best, and thus makes it his own. — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image
It may be glorious to write Thoughts that shall glad the two or three High souls, like those far stars that come in sight… — James Russell Lowell Copy Share Image