Quotes from Washington Irving

Poetry had breathed over and sanctified the land.

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small and laughter abundant.

An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.

There was one species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that was petticoat government.

Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven.

I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow.

The paternal hearth, the rallying-place of the affections.

The tongue is the only instrument that gets sharper with use.

Wit, after all, is a mighty tart, pungent ingredient, and much too acid for some stomachs; but honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting.

The natural effect of sorrow over the dead is to refine and elevate the mind.

With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate amount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible individual to do incalculable mischief.

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love.

Jealous people poison their own banquet and then eat it

The easiest thing to do, whenever you fail, is to put yourself down by blaming your lack of ability for your misfortunes.

Society is like a lawn, where every roughness is smoothed, every bramble eradicated, and where the eye is delighted by the smiling verdure of a velvet surface

The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse.

He is the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.

The tie which links mother and child is of such pure and immaculate strength as to be never violated.

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.

Into the space of one little hour sins enough may be conjured up by evil tongues to blast the fame of a whole life of virtue.

Acting provides the fulfillment of never being fulfilled. You're never as good as you'd like to be. So there's always something to hope for.

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.