Nathaniel Parker Willis
What is ambition? It is a glorious cheat! Angels of light walk not so dazzlingly the sapphire walls of heaven.
'Tis a bird I love, with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat; There's a human look in its swelling breast, And the gentle curve of its lowly crest; And I often stop with the fear I feel - He runs so close to the rapid wheel.
There are so few invalids who are invariably and conscientiously untemptable by those deadly domestic enemies, sweetmeats, pastry, and gravies, that the usual civilities at a meal are very like being politely assisted to the grave.
The lily and the rose in her fair face striving for precedence.
Press on! for in the grave there is no work and no device. Press on! while yet you may.
It is the month of June, The month of leaves and roses, When pleasant sights salute the eyes And pleasant scents the noses.
In comparing men and books, one must always remember this important distinction,-that one can put the books down at anytime.
If there is anything that keeps the mind open to angel visits, and repels the ministry of ill, it is human love.
How like a mounting devil in the heart rules the unreined ambition!
He who binds his soul to knowledge, steals the key of heaven.
At present there is no distinction among the upper ten thousand of the city.