Top 66 Quotes by James Russell Lowell

Sincerity is impossible, unless it pervade the whole being, and the pretence of it saps the very foundation of character.

Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come.

Democracy is the form of government that gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.

A great man is made up of qualities that meet or make great occasions.

Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit.

Where one person shapes their life by precept and example, there are a thousand who have shaped it by impulse and circumstances.

Truth, after all, wears a different face to everybody, and it would be too tedious to wait till all were agreed.

I have always been of the mind that in a democracy manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie-knife.

The only faith that wears well and holds its color in all weathers is that which is woven of conviction and set with the sharp mordant of experience.

Good luck is the willing handmaid of a upright and energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty.