In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be past,
That I may give read more

In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be past,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
- Isaac Watts,

Ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting
solidity or exactness of beauty.

Ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting
solidity or exactness of beauty.

The gull shall whistle in his wake, the blind wave break in fire.
He shall fulfill God's utmost will, read more

The gull shall whistle in his wake, the blind wave break in fire.
He shall fulfill God's utmost will, unknowing His desire,
And he shall see old planets pass and alien stars arise,
And give the gale his reckless sail in shadow of new skies.
Strong lust of gear shall drive him out and hunger arm his hand,
To wring his food from a desert nude, his foothold from the sand.

I have had my labor for my travail; ill-thought-on of her, and
ill-thought-on of you; gone between and between, read more

I have had my labor for my travail; ill-thought-on of her, and
ill-thought-on of you; gone between and between, but small thanks
for my labor.

I am gradually approaching the period in my life when work comes
first. . . . No longer diverted read more

I am gradually approaching the period in my life when work comes
first. . . . No longer diverted by other emotions, I work the way
a cow grazes.

All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.

All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.

A man who has no office to go to--I don't care who he is--is a
trial of which you read more

A man who has no office to go to--I don't care who he is--is a
trial of which you can have no conception.

You're blessed if you have the strength to work.

You're blessed if you have the strength to work.

A day's work is a day's work, neither more nor less, and the man
who does it needs a read more

A day's work is a day's work, neither more nor less, and the man
who does it needs a day's sustenance, a night's repose, and due
leisure, whether he be a painter or ploughman.