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James Russell Lowell

James Russell Lowell Quotes

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Famous James Russell Lowell Quotes

“A father of the church said that property was theft, many centuries before Proudhon was born. Bourdaloue reaffirmed it. Montesquieu was the inventor of national workshops and of the theory that the state owed every man a living. Nay, was not the church herself the first organized democracy?”

MenFirstsSaidStatesFatherBornChurchDemocracyCenturyTheoryPropertyEvery ManOrganizedTheftInventorWorkshopsMontesquieu
Book:Books and Libraries: Democracy, and Other Papers
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“The true historical genius, to our thinking, is that which can see the nobler meaning of events that are near him, as the true poet is he who detects the divine in the casual; and we somewhat suspect the depth of his insight into the past who cannot recognize the godlike of to-day under that disguise in which it always visits us.”

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Book:My Study Windows
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“God does not weigh criminality in our scales. We have one absolute, with the seal of authority upon it; and with us an ounce is an ounce, and a pound a pound. God's measure is the heart of the offender,--a balance which varies with every one of us, a balance so delicate that a tear cast in the other side may make the weight of error kick the beam.”

HeartMayDoeSidesTearsBalanceAuthorityJudgmentWeightAbsolutesErrorsCastsScalesKicksPoundsDelicateVaryBeamSealsOffendersCriminality
Author:James Russell Lowell
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“The right of individual property is no doubt the very corner-stone of civilization, as hitherto understood; but I am a little impatient of being told that property is entitled to exceptional consideration because it bears all the burdens of the state. It bears those, indeed, which can be most easily borne, but poverty pays with its person the chief expenses of war, pestilence, and famine.”

LittlesPersonsWarStatesIndividualPayPovertyDoubtBearsCivilizationUnderstoodStonesPropertyPossessionBurdenCornersChiefsNo DoubtConsiderationExpensesEntitledExceptionalImpatientFaminePestilence
Book:Essays, English and American
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“Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to read means? That it is the key which admits us to the whole world of thought and fancy and imagination? to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moment? That it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of all time? More than that, it annihilates time and space for us.”

WorldMeanWholeMomentsEyeReadingVoiceImaginationAbilitySpaceCompanyKeysEarsMereSaintWhole WorldAll TimeFancyFinestSageTime And SpaceSweetestWisestWittiest
Book:Democracy and other Addresses
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“The discontent with the existing order of things pervaded the atmosphere, wherever the conditions were favorable, long before Columbus, seeking the back door of Asia, found himself knocking at the front door of America.”

LongAmericaOrderFoundDoorsConditionsFrontsSeekingAtmosphereAsiaDiscontentKnockingColumbusFront DoorsBack Doors
Book:Essays, English and American: With Introductions and Notes
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“The realm of death seems an enemy's country to most men, on whose shores they are loathly driven by stress of weather; to the wise man it is the desired port where he moors his bark gladly, as in some quiet haven of the Fortunate Isles; it is the golden west into which his sun sinks, and, sinking, casts back a glory upon the leaden cloud-tack which had darkly besieged his day.”

MenCountrySeemsDeathEnemySunWiseHavensQuietGloryStressWestCloudsCastsDrivenWeatherGoldenFortunateRealmsShorePortBarkSinkingIsleMoors
Book:Conversations on Some of the Old Poets
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