The Sacred Pipe (1953)
Context: It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death. He who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka who is everything; then he knows that world which is real.
“Who he was
That piled these stones, and with the mossy sod
First covered, and here taught this aged Tree
With its dark arms to form a circling bower,
I well remember.—He was one who owned
No common soul. In youth by science nursed.
And led by nature into a wild scene
Of lofty hopes, he to the world went forth
A favoured Being, knowing no desire
Which genius did not hallow; 'gainst the taint
Of dissolute tongues, and jealousy, and hate,
And scorn,—against all enemies prepared,
All but neglect. The world, for so it thought,
Owed him no service; wherefore he at once
With indignation turned himself away,
And with the food of pride sustained his soul
In solitude.”
Lines (1795)
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William Wordsworth 306
English Romantic poet 1770–1850Related quotes
Source: Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason (1915), p. 3
“He, therefore, who desires peace, should prepare for war. He who aspires to victory, should spare no pains to form his soldiers. And he who hopes for success, should fight on principle, not chance. (Book 3, Foreword)”
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; qui uictoriam cupit, milites inbuat diligenter; qui secundos optat euentus, dimicet arte, non casu.
De Re Militari (also Epitoma Rei Militaris), Book III, "Dispositions for Action"
Variant: Si vis pacem para bellum. ("If you want peace, prepare for war.")
“A Kind of Artistry” p. 185
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)
“For what did the creator prepare me,
Why did he so terribly contradict
The hopes of my youth?…”
"My future is in darkness..." (1837)
Poems
“Yet he was jealous, though he did not show it, For jealousy dislikes the world to know it.”
“He is a fool who looks at the fruit of lofty trees, but does not measure their height.”
Stultus est qui fructus magnarum arborum spectat, altitudinem non metitur.
VII, 8.
Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, Book VII