Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Ah, pensive scholar, what is fame?
A fitful tongue of leaping flame;
A giddy whirlwind's fickle gust,
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Ah, pensive scholar, what is fame?
A fitful tongue of leaping flame;
A giddy whirlwind's fickle gust,
That lifts a pinch of mortal dust;
A few swift years, and who can show
Which dust was Bill, and which was Joe?

Beware how you take away hope from another human being.

Beware how you take away hope from another human being.

And when you stick on conversation's burs,
Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.

And when you stick on conversation's burs,
Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.

The first thing naturally when one enters a scholar's study or
library, is to look at his books. One read more

The first thing naturally when one enters a scholar's study or
library, is to look at his books. One gets a notion very
speedily of his tastes and the range of his pursuits by a glance
round his book-shelves.

The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through the centre of
each and every town or city.

The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through the centre of
each and every town or city.