Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
call doctors found good patient sticks till
What I call a good patient is one who, having found a good physician, sticks to him till he dies.
bundle great life
Life is a great bundle of little things
action judged life man passion peril required share
Life is action and passion; therefore, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of the time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.
ancestry features good limbs marks persons signal sit stillness vulgar work
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.
calamity disaster great
A great calamity is as old as the trilobites an hour after it has happened.
necks vices virtue
It is very grand to die in harness, but it is very pleasant to have the tight straps unbuckled and the heavy collar lifted from the neck and shoulders.
happy-friday people disrespectful
Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.
common draught fair flavor genius grand mediocrity neutrality spoils weak
Unpretending mediocrity is good, and genius is glorious; but a weak flavor of genius in an essentially common person is detestable. It spoils the grand neutrality of a commonplace character, as the rinsings of an unwashed wine-glass spoil a draught of fair water.