“Wouldst thou know what life should be?
Were it mine but to decree
What its path should be for Thee?
Look upon those sister powers,
Chained, but only chained with flowers, —
That bright group of rose-winged Hours”

(3rd May 1823) Poetical Catalogue of Paintings - The Hours, by Howard.
The London Literary Gazette, 1823

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Wouldst thou know what life should be? Were it mine but to decree What its path should be for Thee? Look upon those …" by Letitia Elizabeth Landon?
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 785
English poet and novelist 1802–1838

Related quotes

Brandon Sanderson photo

“If men should read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Final Empire

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“I envy thee, thou careless wind!
How light, how wild thy wandering :
Thou hast no earthly chain, to bind
One fetter on thy airy wing.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

(2nd August 1823) both from Songs
The London Literary Gazette, 1823

Friedrich Schiller photo

“Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others.
Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.”

Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright

Tabulae Votivae (Votive Tablets) (1796), "The Key"; tr. Edgar Alfred Bowring, The Poems of Schiller, Complete (1851)
Variant translation:[citation needed]
If you want to know yourself,
Just look how others do it;
If you want to understand others,
Look into your own heart

John Lancaster Spalding photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“Where, oh, where's the chain to fling,
One that will chain Cupid's wing—
One that will have longer power
Than the April sun or shower?”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

(14th January 1826) Lezione per l’Amore
The London Literary Gazette, 1826

Ausonius photo

“O maid, while youth is with the rose and thee,
Pluck thou the rose: life is as swift for thee.”

Collige, virgo, rosas, dum flos novus et nova pubes,<br/>et memor esto aevum sic properare tuum.

Ausonius (310–395) poet

Collige, virgo, rosas, dum flos novus et nova pubes,
et memor esto aevum sic properare tuum.
"De Rosis Nascentibus", line 49; translation from Helen Waddell Mediaeval Latin Lyrics ([1929] 1943) p. 29.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
P. D. Ouspensky photo

“This is the Hall of Wisdom. No one can reveal it, no one can hide it. Like a flower it must grow and bloom in thy soul. If thou wouldst plant the seed of this flower in thy soul — learn to discern the real from the false. Listen only to the Voice that is soundless… Look only on that which is invisible, and remember that in thee thyself, is the Temple and the gate to it, and the mystery, and the initiation.”

P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947) Russian esotericist

Card II : The High Priestess
The Symbolism of the Tarot (1913)
Context: Then the woman turned her face to me and looked into my eyes without speaking. And through me passed a thrill, mysterious and penetrating like a golden wave; tones vibrated in my brain, a flame was in my heart, and I understood that she spoke to me, saying without words:
"This is the Hall of Wisdom. No one can reveal it, no one can hide it. Like a flower it must grow and bloom in thy soul. If thou wouldst plant the seed of this flower in thy soul — learn to discern the real from the false. Listen only to the Voice that is soundless... Look only on that which is invisible, and remember that in thee thyself, is the Temple and the gate to it, and the mystery, and the initiation."

Thomas Mann photo

“Only indifference is free. What is distinctive is never free, it is stamped with its own seal, conditioned and chained.”

Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German novelist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate

As quoted in Sculpting in Time (1996), by Andrei Tarkovsky, p. 56

Constantine the Great photo

“O holy faith, who givest us in our Saviour's words and precepts a model, as it were, of what our life should be, how hardly wouldst thou thyself resist the sins of men, were it not that thou refusest to subserve the purposes of gain! In my own judgment, he whose first object is the maintenance of peace, seems to be superior to Victory herself”

Constantine the Great (274–337) Roman emperor

Letter of Constantine to the Antiochians (332)
Constantine the Great : Letters
Context: How pleasing to the wise and intelligent portion of mankind is the concord which exists among you! And I myself, brethren, am disposed to love you with an enduring affection, inspired both by religion, and by your own manner of life and zeal on my behalf. It is by the exercise of right understanding and sound discretion, that we are enabled really to enjoy our blessings... Indeed, amongst brethren, whom the selfsame disposition to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness promises, through the favor of God, to register among his pure and holy family, what can be more honorable than gladly to acquiesce in the prosperity of all men?... O holy faith, who givest us in our Saviour's words and precepts a model, as it were, of what our life should be, how hardly wouldst thou thyself resist the sins of men, were it not that thou refusest to subserve the purposes of gain! In my own judgment, he whose first object is the maintenance of peace, seems to be superior to Victory herself; and where a right and honorable course lies open to one's choice, surely no one would hesitate to adopt it. I ask then, brethren, why do we so decide as to inflict an injury on others by our choice? Why do we covet those objects which will destroy the credit of our own reputation?... Lastly, in accordance with your usual sound judgment, do ye exhibit a becoming diligence in selecting the person of whom you stand in need, carefully avoiding all factious and tumultuous clamor; for such clamor is always wrong, and from the collision of discordant elements both sparks and flame will arise. I protest, as I desire to please God and you, and to enjoy a happiness commensurate with your kind wishes, that I love you, and the quiet haven of your gentleness, now that you have cast from you that which defiled, and received in its place at once sound morality and concord, firmly planting in the vessel the sacred standard, and guided, as one may say, by a helm of iron in your course onward to the light of heaven.

Related topics