George Gordon Byron: Man

George Gordon Byron was English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Explore interesting quotes on man.
George Gordon Byron: 454 quotes9 likes

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”

George Gordon Byron

“A mighty lesson we inherit:
Thou art a symbol and a sign
To Mortals of their fate and force;
Like thee, Man is in part divine,
A troubled stream from a pure source”

George Gordon Byron

III.
Prometheus (1816)
Context: Thy Godlike crime was to be kind,
To render with thy precepts less
The sum of human wretchedness,
And strengthen Man with his own mind;
But baffled as thou wert from high,
Still in thy patient energy,
In the endurance, and repulse
Of thine impenetrable Spirit,
Which Earth and Heaven could not convulse,
A mighty lesson we inherit:
Thou art a symbol and a sign
To Mortals of their fate and force;
Like thee, Man is in part divine,
A troubled stream from a pure source;
And Man in portions can foresee
His own funereal destiny;
His wretchedness, and his resistance,
And his sad unallied existence:
To which his Spirit may oppose
Itself — and equal to all woes,
And a firm will, and a deep sense,
Which even in torture can decry
Its own concenter'd recompense,
Triumphant where it dares defy,
And making Death a Victory.

“I love not man the less, but nature more”

George Gordon Byron

“The stars are forth, the moon above the tops
Of the snow-shining mountains. Beautiful!
I linger yet with Nature, for the Night
Hath been to me a more familiar face
Than that of man; and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness,
I learn'd the language of another world.”

George Gordon Byron book Manfred

Act III, scene iv.
Manfred (1817)

“Old man! ’tis not so difficult to die.”

George Gordon Byron book Manfred

Act III, scene iv
Manfred (1817)

“A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure — critics are ready-made.”

George Gordon Byron English Bards and Scotch Reviewers

Source: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), Line 63.

“Sighing that Nature formed but one such man,
And broke the die, in molding Sheridan.”

George Gordon Byron

Source: Monody on the Death of Sheridan (1816), Line 117; this can be compared to: "Natura il fece, e poi ruppe la stampa" (translated: "Nature made him, and then broke the mould"), Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, canto x, stanza 84; "The idea that Nature lost the perfect mould has been a favorite one with all song-writers and poets, and is found in the literature of all European nations", Book of English Songs, p. 28.

“When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome
And get knock'd on the head for his labours.
To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can.
And, if not shot or hang'd, you'll get knighted.”

George Gordon Byron

Letter to Thomas Moore, 5 November 1820 http://books.google.com/books?id=K-s_AAAAYAAJ&q=%22When+a+man+hath+no+freedom+to+fight+for+at+home+Let+him+combat+for+that+of+his+neighbours+Let+him+think+of+the+glories+of+Greece+and+of+Rome+And+get+knock'd+on+the+head+for+his+labours+To+do+good+to+mankind+is+the+chivalrous+plan+And+is+always+as+nobly+requited+Then+battle+for+freedom+wherever+you+can+And+if+not+shot+or+hang'd+you+'ll+get+knighted%22&pg=PA377#v=onepage

“Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,
And all, save the spirit of man, is divine?”

George Gordon Byron book The Bride of Abydos

Canto I, stanza 1.
The Bride of Abydos (1813)

“The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle.”

George Gordon Byron book The Bride of Abydos

Canto II, stanza 2.
The Bride of Abydos (1813)

“Where may the wearied eye repose
When gazing on the Great;
Where neither guilty glory glows,
Nor despicable state?
Yes — one — the first — the last — the best — The Cincinnatus of the West,
Whom envy dared not hate,
Bequeath'd the name of Washington,
To make man blush there was but one!”

George Gordon Byron

Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte http://readytogoebooks.com/LB-Nap-06.htm, st. 29 (1814).