George Herbert's Quotes

Never was a miser a brave soul.

Spend not on hopes.

The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller not one.

The mouse that hath but one hole is quickly taken.

The resolved mind hath no cares.

The shortest answer is doing.

There is an hour wherein a man might be happy all his life, could he find it.

You must lose a fly to catch a trout.

Life is half spent before we know what it is.

One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.

Living well is the best revenge.

He that is not handsome at 20, nor strong at 30, nor rich at 40, nor wise at 50, will never be handsome, strong, rich or wise.

Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

Good words are worth much, and cost little.

Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy.

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.

He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.

Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie: a fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.

A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread.

Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.

There would be no great men if there were no little ones.

Deceive not thy physician, confessor, nor lawyer.

Love and a cough cannot be hid.

The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.

In conversation, humor is worth more than wit and easiness more than knowledge.

Night is the mother of counsels.

Sometimes the best gain is to lose.

Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them.

War makes thieves and peace hangs them.

Punishment is lame, but it comes.

Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.

None knows the weight of another's burden.

Throw away thy rod, throw away thy wrath; O my God, take the gentle path.