Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), American poet Quotes

There never was an idea stated that woke men out of their stupid indifference but its originator was spoken of as a crank.

To have doubted one’s own principles is the mark of a civilized man.

If wine tells the truth, and so have said the wise, it makes me laugh to think how brandy lies!

Old age is like an opium dream. Nothing seems real except the unreal.

I firmly believe that if the whole materia medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for mankind,--and all the worse for the fishes.

We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. You cannot educate a man wholly out of the superstitious fears which were implanted in his imagination, no matter how utterly his reason may reject them.

Still singing as they shine.

Winter is past; the heart of Nature warms Beneath the wrecks of unresisted storms; Doubtful at first, suspected more than seen, The southern slopes are fringed with tender green.

The flowering moments of the mind Drop half their petals in our speech.

I love to hear thine earnest voice, Wherever thou art hid. . . . Thou say'st an undisputed thing In such a solemn way.