Irish Poet Quotations

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.

Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly each day.

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

No, there's nothing half so sweet in life as love's young dream.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.

The insidiousness of science lies in its claim to be not a subject, but a method.

It is a poor cause which has to be lied for regularly.

It is only to the happy that tears are a luxury.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

No fashion has ever been created expressly for the lean purse or for the fat woman: the dressmaker's ideal is the thin millionaires.

Romantic love is an illusion. Most of us discover this truth at the end of a love affair or else when the sweet emotions of love lead us into marriage and then turn down their flames.

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.

This sympathy is not translated into force against the British government because it is not like the anti- apartheid movement which had a high profile here and Mandela is a more engaging figure than Yasser Arafat.

Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.

One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.

How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men?

He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.

Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it.

Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew.

To see things in the seed, that is genius.

Plants that wake when others sleep. Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.

When I was writing, I genuinely believed each word was my own.

Sleep is an excellent way of listening to an opera.

Because there is a sort of amorphous, sort of darkness at the heart of things, because there is a certain kind of complacency and individualism.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them -- that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.

Our greatest glory consists not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.

Man can embody truth bet he cannot know it.

To be born woman is to know -- although they do not speak of it at school -- women must labor to be beautiful.

Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.

I chose my wife as she did her wedding-gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.