Robert Burns: Man

Robert Burns was Scottish poet and lyricist. Explore interesting quotes on man.

Robert Burns: 228 quotes13 likes

“While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things,
The fate of empires and the fall of kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp the Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention.”

The Rights of Woman, st. 1 (1792)

“Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that;
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.”

A Man's A Man For A' That, st. 3-5 (1795)

“Nature's law,
That man was made to mourn.”

Man Was Made to Mourn, st. 4 (1786)

“Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;
Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang,
To step aside is human.”

Address to the Unco Guid, st. 7 (1787)

“Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn.
Man was made to Mourn.”

Man was Made to Mourn (1786)

“Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han' she tried on man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.”

Robert Burns Green Grow the Rashes

Green Grow the Rashes, O, st. 5 (1787)

“When Nature her great masterpiece designed,
And framed her last, best work, the human mind,
Her eye intent on all the wondrous plan,
She formed of various stuff the various Man.”

To Robert Graham, st. 1 (1791)

“I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union.”

Robert Burns To a Mouse

To a Mouse, st. 2 (1785)

“There's nought but care on ev'ry han',
In every hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o' man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.”

Robert Burns Green Grow the Rashes

Green Grow the Rashes, O, st. 1 (1787)

“The social, friendly, honest man,
Whate'er he be,
'Tis he fulfills great Nature's plan,
And none but he!”

Second Epistle to J. Lapraik, st. 15 (1786).

“From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad:
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."”

Robert Burns The Cotter's Saturday Night

Stanza 19
The Cotter's Saturday Night (1786)

“Nae man can tether time or tide.”

Robert Burns Tam o' Shanter

Source: Tam o' Shanter (1790), Line 67

“The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
For a' that an a' that.”

A Man's A Man For A' That, st. 1 (1795)