Home › By Author › James Beattie
Quotes by James Beattie
Parthenophe Happy am I; from care I'm free! Why aren't they all contented like me? X. Opera of La Bayadère. From labour health, from health contentment spring; Contentment opes the source of every joy.— filed under Content
Immortality. On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.— filed under Immortality
No jealousy their dawn of love o'ercast, Nor blasted were their wedded days with strife; Each season looked delightful as it past, To the fond husband and the faithful wife.— filed under Matrimony
Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. Quoted by BACON-Apothegm 97. Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime. S.— filed under Affliction
Goose. I dare not hope to please a Cinna's ear. Or sing what Varus might vouchsafe to hear; Harsh are the sweetest lays that I can bring, So screams a goose where swans melodious sing.— filed under Birds-Falcon
Hymn. Lapwing. Changed to a lapwing by th' avenging god, He made the barren waste his lone abode, And oft on soaring pinions hover'd o'er The lofty palace then his own no more.— filed under Birds-Jackdaw
Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms; Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms.— filed under Character
Meeting.) To Gov. Hutchinson, demanding the withdrawal of the British troops from Boston after March 5th, 1776. Be ignorance thy choice where knowledge leads to woe.— filed under Choice
Or merry swains, who quaff the nut-brown ale, And sing enamour'd of the nut-brown maid.— filed under Drinking
And none speaks false, when there is none to hear.— filed under Falsehood
Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar!— filed under Fame
Sunset. Let those deplore their doom, Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn: But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn.— filed under Fate
He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.— filed under Feeling
GRAVE (THE). Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down; Where a green grassy turf is all I crave, With here and there a violet bestrown, Fast by a brook or fountain's murmuring wave; And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave!— filed under Gratitude
Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to woe.— filed under Ignorance
Second Week. Fourth Day. Bk. II. L. 566. At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill, And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove.— filed under Nature
And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe, O never, never turn away thine ear! Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below, Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!— filed under Prayer
And, lo! in the dark east, expanded high, The rainbow brightens to the setting Sun.— filed under Rain
'Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd, That leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind.— filed under Science
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn! Oh, when shall it dawn on the night of the grave?— filed under Scripture
How sweet the words of Truth, breath'd from the lips of Love.— filed under Truth
Zealous, yet modest.— filed under Zeal