19th-century Journalist Quotes

An astrologer is an artist, an astronomer is not; in fact, an astronomer is a mere... drudge, a dry, unpoetical, soulless calculator.

Be awake! No man, or body of men have a claim upon your liberty, but yourselves.

William Cooper Nell
William Cooper Nell
Through interpretation, understanding; through understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection.

Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight. Make me a child again just for to-night.

Parapet, buttress, and arch and pier Beyond are as sound as ever! Now show us thy skill, Sir Engineer, For a roadway over the River!

The only true equalisers in the world are books; the only treasure-house open to all comers is a library; the only wealth which will not decay is knowledge; the only jewel which you can carry beyond the grave is wisdom.

It was a mere detail that my invention was no good.

People talk so much to me about the beauty of confidence. They seem to entirely ignore the much more subtle beauty of doubt. To believe is very dull. To doubt is intensely engrossing. The Apostle Thomas was artistic up to a certain point. He appreciated the value of shadows in a picture. To be on the alert is to live. To be lulled into security is to die.

The grandchildren of the kids who used to weep because the Little Match Girl froze to death now feel cheated if she isn't slugged, raped and thrown into a Bessemer converter.

Jenkin Lloyd Jones
Jenkin Lloyd Jones
Think of it! A few more boats, a few more planks of wood nailed together in a particular way at a thrifty cost and all those men and women whom the world can so ill afford to loose would be with us today. There would be no mourning in thousands of homes which now are desolate and these words need not have been written.

Lawrence Beesley
Lawrence Beesley
It is Astronomy that reveals to us the Universe in its majestic whole; it is she who has made us comprehend its structure, and after having gathered its thousand various elements into a gorgeous picture, has initiated us into the eternal laws that govern the Heavens.

On this I ponder Where'er I wander, And thus grow fonder, Sweet Cork, of thee, - With thy bells of Shandon, That sound so grand on The pleasant waters Of the river Lee.

Archaeology is too often considered to be the pursuit of weak-chested youths and eccentric old men; it is seldom regarded as a possible vocation for normal persons of sound health and balanced mind.

In tears I tossed my coin from Trevi's edge. A coin unsordid as a bond of love-- And, with the instinct of the homing dove, I gave to Rome my rendezvous and pledge. And when imperious Death Has quenched my flame of breath, Oh, let me join the faithful shades that throng that fount above.

The idea that some day another wife would be added to our household was ever present in my mind, but, somehow, when the fact was placed before me in so many unmistakable words, my heart sank within me, and I shrank from the realization that our home was at last to be desecrated by the foul presence of Polygamy.

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other.

Of all the literary scenes
Saddest this sight to me:
The graves of little magazines
Who died to make verse free.

The word patriotism, or its equivalents and derivations, is upon everyone's lips at the present time. It is a magic word which is thought by most people to cover any multitude of sins. To be patriotic in whatever cause is tantamount to being virtuous, while no worse charge can be brought against a man in popular estimation than to say he is unpatriotic.

Ernest Belfort Bax
Ernest Belfort Bax
The devout Russian people no longer needed priests to pray them into heaven. On earth they were building a kingdom more bright than any heaven had to offer, and for which it was a glory to die.

John Reed (journalist)
John Reed (journalist)
If you are to love mankind, you must not expect too much from it.

I rise from bed the first thing in the morning, leaving my couch not because I am dissatisfied with it, but because I cannot carry it with me during the day.

Edgar Wilson Nye
Edgar Wilson Nye
It 's no matter what you do
If your heart be only true,
And his heart was true to Poll.

The conservative in financial circles I have often described as a man who thinks nothing new ought ever to be adopted for the first time.

Frank A. Vanderlip
Frank A. Vanderlip
I await thee as hills wait the morning,
I desire thee as eagles the storm...

Constance Lindsay Skinner
Constance Lindsay Skinner
One starts gambling for a joke, out of curiosity, as a little challenge to fortune. One goes on, pricked to the quick by delusions, excited by vague desires that grow. Woe to you if you win anything - an AMBO, a small TERNO! It is all up with you, for your chance of winning seems certain.... It is the devil's money going back to hell.