Quotes from Oliver Wendell Holmes

The wind blows out, the bubble dies; The spring entomb'd in autumn lies; The dew dries up; the star is shot; The flight is past, and man forgot.

There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles that make wrinkles and not dimples

Give us the luxuries of life and we'll dispense with the necessaries.

The man who is always worrying whether or not his soul would be damned generally has a soul that isn't worth a damn.

The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving.

To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it ? but we must sail and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked

Even the wisest woman you talk to is ignorant of something you may know, but an elegant woman never forgets her elegance.

I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirm the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.

The very minute a thought is threatened with publicity it seems to shrink towards mediocrity.

Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride.

Stillness and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding. Vulgar persons can't sit still, or at least must always work their limbs and features.

Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hands on the strings to stop their vibration as in twanging them to bring out their music.

Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.

The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.

A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer, and attempting a task he cannot achieve.

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension.

Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.

Laughter and tears are meant to turn the wheels of the same machinery of sensibility; one is wind-power, and the other water-power; that is all

Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.

On every stem, on every leaf ... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part.

Have the courage to act instead of react.