Edward Fitzgerald Quotes (53 Quotes)


    A book of verses underneath the bough, A jug of wine, a loaf of bread-and thou.

    They say the Lion and the Lizard keep; The Courts where Jamsh d gloried and drank deep; And Bahr.

    To-morrow - Why, To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.

    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

    Then to this earthen Bowl did I adjourn
    My Lip the secret Well of Life to learn:
    And Lip to Lip it murmured: While you live
    Drink!


    One Flash of It within the Tavern caught; Better than in the Temple lost outright.

    If you can prove to me that one miracle took place, I will believe he is a just God who damned us all because a woman ate an apple.

    Into this Universe, and Why not knowing; Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing; And out of it, as Wind along the Waste, I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.


    The court has heard substantial, ample evidence about the level of competency, ... And while I have not decided the issue, there is clearly a problem in terms of the defendant's competency.


    The Grape that can with Logic absolute The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute.

    And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, Lift not your hands to It for help for It As impotently rolls as you or I.

    There was the Door to which I found no key; There was the Veil through which I might see.

    I sometimes think that never blows so red The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled; That every Hyacinth the Garden wears Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head.

    Strange, is it not? That of the myriads who Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the Road Which to discover we must travel too.



    Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose; That Youth's sweet-scented Manuscript should close.

    The harm sought to be prevented by the statute is the sexual exploitation of a patient by his or her physician, ... The strict prohibition is necessary because the nature of that relationship creates an inherent imbalance of emotional power, which leaves the patient vulnerable to exploitation by the treating professional.

    The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes or it prospers and anon, Like Snow upon the Deserts dusty Face, Lighting a little hour or two is gone.

    Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the sky; I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry; Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup; Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry.'

    But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields, And still a Garden by the Water blows.



    Awake for Morning in the Bowl of Night; Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight; And Lo the Hunter of the East has caught; The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.


    Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say; Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday.

    After a momentary silence spake Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make 'They sneer at me for leaning all awry What did the Hand of the Potter shake'

    Ah Love could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this Sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits and then Remold it nearer to the Hearts Desire.

    The King in a carriage may ride, And the beggar may crawl at his side But in the general race, They are traveling all the same pace.

    One Moment in Annihilation's Waste, One Moment, of the Well of Life to taste -The Stars are setting and the Caravan; Starts for the Dawn of Nothing - Oh, make haste.

    Oh, Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make, And who with Eden didst devise the Snake; For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man; Is blackened. Man's Forgiveness give - and take.

    Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough; Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.

    A moment's halt a momentary taste Of being from the well amid the waste And lo the phantom caravan has reached The nothing it set out from - oh, make haste.

    The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes, But Here or There as strikes the Player goes.

    I often wonder what the Vintners buy; One half so precious as the Goods they sell.



    Said one Folks of a surly Tapster tell, And daub his Visage with the Smoke of Hell They talk of some strict Testing of us - Pish He's a Good Fellow, and 'twill all be well.'

    And when Thyself with shining Foot shall pass Among the Guests Star-scattered on the Grass, And in thy joyous Errand reach the Spot Where I made one - turn down an empty Glass.

    The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.

    O Thou who didst with Pitfall and with Gin Beset the Road I was to wander in, Thou wilt not with Predestination round Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin.

    Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go, Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum.

    This battered Caravanserai; Whose Portals are alternate Night and Day.

    One thing at least is certain This life flies One thing is certain and the rest is lies The Flower that once has blown forever dies.

    Tis all a Checkerboard of Nights and Days Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays Hither and thither moves, and mates, and stays, And one by one back in the Closet lays.

    Ah, take the Cash in hand and waive the Rest; Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum.

    And much as Wine has played the Infidel, And robbed me of my Robe of Honor Well, I often wonder what the Vintners buy One half so precious as the stuff they sell.

    Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane, The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again How oft hereafter rising shall she look Through this same Garden after me - in vain.


    More Edward Fitzgerald Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Life - Water - Sin - Faces - Night - Jokes & Humor - Haste - Garden - Learning - Wine - Hell - Genius - Power - Nature - Desire - Love - Wit - Competence - Honor - View All Edward Fitzgerald Quotations

    Related Authors


    William Blake - Shel Silverstein - Khalil Gibran - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Alexander Pope - Ovid - Lucretius - John Betjeman - Edward Young - Allan Cunningham


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