“I think that saving a little child
And bringing him to his own,
Is a derned sight better business
Than loafing around the throne.”

—  John Hay

"Little Breeches", Pike County Ballads and Other Pieces (1873).

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 "I think that saving a little child And bringing him to his own, Is a derned sight better business Than loafing aroun…" by John Hay?
John Hay photo
John Hay 6
American statesman, diplomat, author and journalist 1838–1905

Related quotes

James Thurber photo

“It is better to have loafed and lost, than never to have loafed at all.”

James Thurber (1894–1961) American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright

"The Courtship of Arthur and Al", The New Yorker (26 August 1939); Fables for Our Time & Famous Poems Illustrated (1940). Parody of Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Better to have loved and lost/than never to have loved at all."
From Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time

Thomas Fuller (writer) photo

“1781. Half a Loaf is better than no Bread.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

Elon Musk photo
James Russell Lowell photo

“There is no better ballast for keeping the mind steady on its keel, and saving it from all risk of crankiness, than business.”

James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat

Literary Essays, vol. II (1870–1890), New England Two Centuries Ago

Erwin Rommel photo

“Better too much spade work than too little! This work saves blood.”

Erwin Rommel (1891–1944) German field marshal of World War II

Lieber zuviel als zu wenig Spatengebrauch! Diese Arbeit spart Blut.
Source: Infanterie greift an (1937), p. 28.

Shannon Hale photo

“Man needs to be Saved from his own Wisdom as much as from his own Righteousness, for they produce one and the same corruption. Nothing saves a man from his own righteousness, but that which delivers him from his own wisdom.”

William Law (1686–1761) English cleric, nonjuror and theological writer

The Power of the Spirit (1898), edited by Andrew Murray, further edited by Dave Hunt (1971) Ch. 6 : The Church : A Habitation of the Spirit.

Julian of Norwich photo

“In God there may be no wrath, as to my sight: for our good Lord endlessly hath regard to His own worship and to the profit of all that shall be saved.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Fifth Revelation, Chapter 13
Context: In God there may be no wrath, as to my sight: for our good Lord endlessly hath regard to His own worship and to the profit of all that shall be saved. With might and right He withstandeth the Reproved, the which of malice and wickedness busy them to contrive and to do against God’s will. Also I saw our Lord scorn his malice and set at nought his unmight; and He willeth that we do so. For this sight I laughed mightily, and that made them to laugh that were about me, and their laughing was a pleasure to me.

Lewis Carroll photo
Christian Scriver photo

“God has given you your child, that the sight of him, from time to time, might remind you of His goodness, and induce you to praise Him with filial reverence.”

Christian Scriver (1629–1693) German hymnwriter

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 50.

Related topics