Charles Mackay
Charles Mackay
wise past men
The study of the errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive. . . No man is so wise but that he may learn some wisdom from his past errors, either of thought or action, and no society has made such advances as to be capable of no improvement from the retrospect of its past folly and credulity.
war eye men
War in men's eyes shall be A monster of iniquity In the good time coming. Nations shall not quarrel then, To prove which is the stronger; Nor slaughter men for glory's sake; - Wait a little longer.
honesty men tongue
Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, hopes of honest men!
flower blow men
There's a fount about to stream, There's a light about to beam, There's a warmth about to glow, There's a flower about to blow; There's a midnight blackness changing Into gray; Men of thought and men of action, Clear the way.
sage world may
Much as the sage may affect to despise the opinion of the world, there are few who would not rather expose their lives a hundred times than be condemned to live on, in society, but not of it - a by-word of reproach to all who know their history, and a mark for scorn to point his finger at.
military men way
Men of thought and men of action, clear the Way!
truth distance eye
Truth . . . and if mine eyes Can bear its blaze, and trace its symmetries, Measure its distance, and its advent wait, I am no prophet - I but calculate.
age gains peculiar
Every age has its peculiar folly: Some scheme, project, or fantasy into which it plunges, spurred on by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the force of imitation.
wind wings pathways
Tell me, ye wingèd winds That round my pathway roar, Know ye not some spot Where mortals weep no more?
thinking air arrows
An arrow may fly through the air and leave no trace; but an ill thought leaves a trail like a serpent.
men thinking mad
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
chimney clothes maid women
Nobles, citizens, farmers, mechanics, seamen, footmen, maid servants, even chimney sweeps and old clothes women dabbled in tulips.
love dark sea
Some love to roam o'er the dark sea's foam, Where the shrill winds whistle free.
running truth sunshine
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky, As round and round we run; And the truth shall ever come uppermost, And justice shall be done.