James Russell Lowell Quote

The little that we do
Is but half-nobly true;
With our laborious hiving
What men call treasure, and the gods call dross,
Life seems a jest of Fate's contriving,
Only secure in every one's conniving,
A long account of nothings paid with loss.

St. 3. - Ode Recited at the Harvard Commemoration (July 21, 1865)