“If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a muddy river before you stoop to catch its waves.”

—  Jerome K. Jerome , book Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Context: It is well, dear ladies, for us old sinners that you study only books. Did you read mankind, you would know that the lad's shy stammering tells a truer tale than our bold eloquence. A boy's love comes from a full heart; a man's is more often the result of a full stomach. Indeed, a man's sluggish current may not be called love, compared with the rushing fountain that wells up when a boy's heart is struck with the heavenly rod. If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a muddy river before you stoop to catch its waves.

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 "If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a m…" by Jerome K. Jerome?
Jerome K. Jerome photo
Jerome K. Jerome 87
English humorist 1859–1927

Related quotes

Edward Payson photo

“Your only safety lies in placing yourself in circumstances which will make exertion necessary, and which will secure Divine assistance. Never mind your infirmities. You have nothing to do with them. Your business is to trust, and to go forward. If you wait till the sea becomes land, you will never walk on it. You must leave the ship, and, like Peter, set your feet upon the waves, and you will find them marble.”

Edward Payson (1783–1827) American religious leader

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 125.

Cassandra Clare photo

“I brought you some coffee.” he held out the cup but she waved it away.
“I hate that stuff. It tastes like feet.”
At that he smiled. “How would you know what feet taste like?”
“I just know.”
-Luke and Clary, pg.209-”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Joni Mitchell photo

“Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine,
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you, darling
And I would still be on my feet
I would still be on my feet.”

Joni Mitchell (1943) Canadian musician

"A Case of You" from Blue
Songs
Source: Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics

Jodi Picoult photo

“Love's a tidal wave," she says.
"Because it sweeps you off your feet?" I ask.
"No. Because it sucks you under and you drown."
"But sometimes," I point out, "it's the only thing that keeps you afloat.”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

John Scalzi photo

“What is it like when you lose someone you love?" Jane asked.
"You die, too. And you wait around for your body to catch up.”

John Scalzi Old Man's War

Source: Old Man's War

Jodi Picoult photo

“Marina sighs. "Love's a tidal wave," she says. "Because it sweeps you off your feet?" I ask. "No. Because it sucks you under and you drown.”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

Cassandra Clare photo

“I hate that stuff. It tastes like feet."
At that he smiled. "How would you know what feet taste like?"
"I just know.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

Arthur Symons photo

“And I would have, now love is over,
An end to all, an end:
I cannot, having been your lover,
Stoop to become your friend!”

Arthur Symons (1865–1945) British poet

After Love, st. 3 (1892).

Michael Swanwick photo

“That is the true measure of love, you see, the evil one will stoop to for its sake…”

Michael Swanwick book Jack Faust

Source: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 16, “The Wild Hunt” (p. 292)

Johann Gottfried Herder photo

“I am no longer misled, therefore, by the mechanism of revolutions: it is as necessary to our species, as the waves to the stream, that it becomes not a stagnant pool. The genius of humanity blooms in continually renovated youth.”

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic

Das Maschinenwerk der Revolutionen irret mich also nicht mehr: es ist unserm Geschlecht so nötig, wie dem Strom seine Wogen, damit er nicht ein stehender Sumpf werde. Immer verjüngt in neuen Gestalten, blüht der Genius der Humanität.
Vol. 1, p. 294; translation vol. 1, p. 416
Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit (1784-91)

Related topics