Quotes from Frances Sargent Osgood

With strength to meet sorrow, and faith to endure

Labor is life! 'Tis the still water faileth; Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth; Keep the watch wound, for the dark rust assaileth.

An exile, ill in heart and frame,-- A wanderer, weary of the way;-- A stranger, without love's sweet claim On any heart, go where I may!

No grief so soft, no pain so sweet, as love's delicious melancholy.

Within the oyster's shell uncouth The purest pearl may hide, Trust me you'll find a heart of truth Within that rough outside.

Love is the greatest of educators.

And yet we check and chide The airy angels as they float about us, With rules of so-called wisdom, till they grow The same tame slaves to custom and the world.

Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow; work with a stout heart and resolute will.

He whom nature thus bereaves, Is ever fancy's favourite child; For thee enchanted dreams she weaves Of changeful beauty, bright and wild.