“Why should we be more shy of repeating ourselves than the spring be tired of blossoms or the night of stars?”

The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858)

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 "Why should we be more shy of repeating ourselves than the spring be tired of blossoms or the night of stars?" by Oliver Wendell Holmes?
Oliver Wendell Holmes photo
Oliver Wendell Holmes 135
Poet, essayist, physician 1809–1894

Related quotes

George Meredith photo

“On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend.”

George Meredith (1828–1909) British novelist and poet of the Victorian era

Lucifer in Starlight http://www.george-macdonald.com/meredith/lucifer.htm, l. 1-2 (1883).

James Beattie photo
Nasreddin photo

“Nasrudin walked into a house and exclaimed, "The moon is more useful than the sun."
"Why?" he was asked.
"Because at night we need the light more."”

Nasreddin (1208–1284) philosopher, Sufi and wise man from Turkey, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes

Paul Blenkiron, Stories and Analogies in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (2010), , p. 43

Li Yu (Southern Tang) photo
William Allingham photo

“Tantarrara! the joyous Book of Spring
Lies open, writ in blossoms.”

William Allingham (1824–1889) Irish man of letters and poet

Daffodil; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Sara Teasdale photo
Dejan Stojanovic photo

“If what we think of ourselves were true, the planet would overflow with geniuses. They blossomed; they did not talk about blossoming. They grew; they did not talk about growing.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

“A Thought about Ourselves,” p. 122
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Hopelessness”

Maggie Nelson photo

“Empirically speaking, we are made of star stuff. Why aren’t we talking more about that?”

Maggie Nelson (1973) American writer

Source: The Argonauts

Sylvia Plath photo
Fernando Pessoa photo

“Come sit by my side, Lydia, on the bank of the river.
Calmly let us watch it flow, and learn
That life passes, and we are not holding hands.
(Let us hold hands)
…..
Let us hold hands no more: why should we tire ourselves?
For our pleasure, for our pain, we pass on like the river.
'Tis better to know how to pass on silently,
With no great disquiet.”

Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher

Vem sentar-te comigo, Lídia, à beira do rio.
Sossegadamente fitemos o seu curso e aprendamos
Que a vida passa, e não estamos de mãos enlaçadas.
(Enlacemos as mãos)
.....
Desenlacemos as mãos, porque não vale a pena cansarmo-nos.
Quer gozemos, quer não gozemos, passamos como o rio.
Mais vale saber passar silenciosamente
E sem desassossegos grandes.
Ricardo Reis (heteronym), ode translated by Peter Rickard.

Related topics