“Room to roam, but only one home
For all the world to win.”

—  George MacDonald , book Phantastes

Phantastes (1858)
Context: Thou goest thine, and I go mine —
Many ways we wend;
Many days, and many ways,
Ending in one end.
Many a wrong, and its curing song;
Many a road, and many an inn;
Room to roam, but only one home
For all the world to win.

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 "Room to roam, but only one home For all the world to win." by George MacDonald?
George MacDonald photo
George MacDonald 127
Scottish journalist, novelist 1824–1905

Related quotes

Stephen Foster photo

“All the world is sad and dreary,
Everywhere I roam.”

Stephen Foster (1826–1864) American songwriter

As quoted at Family Book of Best Loved Poems, by David L. George, (1952)
Old Folks at Home

William Cowper photo

“Ever let the Fancy roam,
Pleasure never is at home.”

William Cowper (1731–1800) (1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist

Actually the opening lines of Keats's "Fancy" (1820).
Misattributed

John Keats photo

“Ever let the Fancy roam,
Pleasure never is at home.”

John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet

"Fancy", l. 1
Poems (1820)

Stephen Foster photo

“All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.”

Stephen Foster (1826–1864) American songwriter

Old Folks at Home

Wole Soyinka photo

“There is only one home to the life of a river-mussel; there is only one home to the life of a tortoise; there is only one shell to the soul of man: there is only one world to the spirit of our race. If that world leaves its course and smashes on boulders of the great void, whose world will give us shelter?”

Wole Soyinka Death and the King's Horseman

Death and the King's Horseman (1975); cited from Six Plays (London: Methuen, 1984) p. 189.

William Wordsworth photo

“Type of the wise who soar, but never roam;
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!”

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Romantic poet

To a Skylark, st. 2 (1825).

Oliver Goldsmith photo

“Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam,
His first, best country ever is, at home.”

Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) Irish physician and writer

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 73.

Stephen Foster photo

“Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.”

Stephen Foster (1826–1864) American songwriter

Old Folks at Home

William Cowper photo

“How much a dunce that has been sent to roam
Excels a dunce that has been kept at home!”

William Cowper (1731–1800) (1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist

Source: The Progress of Error (1782), Line 415.

Orson Scott Card photo

““A man like that thinks that fear can win loyalty.”
“Plenty of masters with a lash who can testify it works.”
“Don’t win loyalty, just obedience, and only while the lash is in the room.””

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, The Crystal City (2003), Chapter 4 “La Tia” (p. 74).

Related topics