Martin Farquhar Tupper (17 July 1810 in London – November 1889 in Albury, Surrey) was an English writer, and poet, and the author of Proverbial Philosophy.
If thou wilt think evil of thy neighbour, soon shalt thou have him for thy foe.
It is the cringer to his equal that is chiefly seen bold to his God.
Speech is reason's brother, and a kingly prerogative of man.
Alike to the slave and his oppressor cometh night with sweet refreshment, and half of the life of the most wretched is gladdened by the soothings of sleep.
The wise man knoweth where to stop, as he runneth in the race of fortune, For experience of old hath taught him, that happiness lingered midway; And many in hot pursuit have hasted to the goal of wealth, But have lost, as they ran, those apples of gold--the mind and the power to enjoy it.
Lies can destroy, but not create.
Love is the weapon which Omnipotence reserved to conquer rebel man when all the rest had failed. Reason he parries; fear he answers blow for blow; future interest he meets with present pleasure; but love, that sun against whose melting beams the winter cannot stand--that soft subliming slumber which wrestles down the giant, there is not one human being in a million, nor a thousand men in all earth's huge quintillion, whose clay heart is hardened against love.
Labour is good for a man, bracing up his energies to conquest, And without it life is dull, the man perceiving himself useless.
Love--what a volume in a word, an ocean in a tear, A seventh heaven in a glance, a whirlwind in a sigh, The lightning in a touch, a millennium in a moment, What concentrated joy or woe in blest or blighted love! For it is that native poetry springing up indigenous to Mind, The heart's own-country music thrilling all its chords, The story without an end that angels throng to hear, The word, the king of words, carved on Jehovah's heart!
There is a limit to enjoyment, though the sources of wealth be boundlessAnd the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation.
Error is a hardy plant; it flourisheth in every soil; In the heart of the wise and good, alike with the wicked and foolish; For there is no error so crooked, but it hath in it some lines of truth.
A wise man heedeth all things, and in his own eyes is a fool.
Power is seldom innocent, and envy is the yokefellow of eminence.
Our cares are all To-day, our joys are all To-day; And in one little word, our life, what is it but--To-day?
As thou directest the power, harm or advantage will follow, and the torrent that swept the valley may be led to turn a mill.
I have sped by land and sea, and mingled with much people, but never yet could find a spot unsunned by human kindness.
Knowledge is leagued with the universe, and findeth a friend in all things; but ignorance is everywhere a stranger, unwelcome; ill at ease and out of place.
Love with life is heaven; and life, unloving, hell.
Clamorous pauperism feastest While honest Labor, pining, hideth his sharp ribs.
Every green herb, from the lotus to the darnel, is rich with delicate aids to help incurious man.