“Some men a forward motion love,
But I by backward steps would move.”

— Henry Vaughan

"The Retreat," l. 29.
Silex Scintillans (1655)

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 "Some men a forward motion love, But I by backward steps would move." by Henry Vaughan?

Henry Vaughan 23

Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet 1621–1695

Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) American psychologist

As quoted in How the Best Leaders Lead : Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Yourself and Others (2010) by Brian Tracy, p. 35.
1970s and later

“It is necessary sometimes to take one step backward to take two steps forward.”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

“Are not the Rays of Light in passing by the edges and sides of Bodies, bent several times backwards and forwards, with a motion like that of an Eel?”

Isaac Newton book Opticks, or a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light

Query 3
Opticks (1704)
Context: Are not the Rays of Light in passing by the edges and sides of Bodies, bent several times backwards and forwards, with a motion like that of an Eel? And do not the three Fringes of colour'd Light... arise from three such bendings?

“I loved you backward and forward in time. I loved you beyond boundaries of time and space.”

Dan Simmons book Endymion

Source: Endymion

“Sometimes your friends take you ten steps backwards for every step you take forward. Sometimes misplaced loyalty ruins your destiny.”

Keshia Chante (1988) Canadian actor and musician

Official Website (2009)

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

Louis Sachar (1954) American writer of children's books

“Federal Switzerlandization would be a huge step backwards for Germany. Two”

Vladimir Lenin book The State and Revolution

Source: The State and Revolution

“If I tell the Berliners to step forward, they do it. If I tell the Viennese to step forward, they do it, but then they ask why.”

Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989) Austrian conductor

On why he preferred conducting the Berlin Philharmonic to the Vienna Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan in Brian Moynahan, 'Funeral in Berlin', The Sunday Times, 30 January 1983, quoted in Norman Lebrecht, The Book of Musical Anecdotes.