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James Beattie Quotes (1735-1803)
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About James Beattie
Professor James Beattie (October 25, 1735 – August 18, 1803) was a Scottish scholar and writer.
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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful James Beattie quotes.
“Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.”
“What is a law, if those who make it
Become the forwardest to break it?”
Become the forwardest to break it?”
“But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn?
Oh when shall it dawn on the night of the grave?”
Oh when shall it dawn on the night of the grave?”
“Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.”
Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.”
“To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined,
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.”
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.”
“Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined?
No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned;
Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.”
No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned;
Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.”
“When squint-eyed Slander plies the unhallow'd tongue,
From poison'd maw when Treason weaves his line,
And Muse apostate (infamy to song!)
Grovels, low muttering, at Sedition's shrine.”
From poison'd maw when Treason weaves his line,
And Muse apostate (infamy to song!)
Grovels, low muttering, at Sedition's shrine.”
“At the close of the day when the hamlet is still,
And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove,
When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill,
And naught but the nightingale’s song in the grove.”
And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove,
When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill,
And naught but the nightingale’s song in the grove.”
“Every man of learning wishes, that his son may be learned; and that not so much from a view to pecuniary advantage, as from a desire to have him supplied with the means of useful instruction and liberal amusement.”
“Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down,
Where a green grassy turf is all I crave,
With here and there a violet bestrewn,
Fast by a brook or fountain’s murmuring wave;
And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave!”
Where a green grassy turf is all I crave,
With here and there a violet bestrewn,
Fast by a brook or fountain’s murmuring wave;
And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave!”
“'Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more;
I mourn, but you woodlands I mourn not for you!
For spring is returning your charms to restore,
Perfumed with fresh fragrance and glittering with dew.
Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn,
Kind nature the embryo blossom shall save;
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn?”
I mourn, but you woodlands I mourn not for you!
For spring is returning your charms to restore,
Perfumed with fresh fragrance and glittering with dew.
Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn,
Kind nature the embryo blossom shall save;
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn?”
“Though richest hues the peacock's plumes adorn,
Yet horror screams from his discordant throat.
Rise, sons of harmony, and hail the morn,
While warbling larks on russet pinions float;
Or seek at noon the woodland scene remote,
Where the gray linnets carol from the hill:
O let them ne'er, with artificial note,
To please a tyrant, strain the little bill,
But sing what heaven inspires, and wander where they will.”
Yet horror screams from his discordant throat.
Rise, sons of harmony, and hail the morn,
While warbling larks on russet pinions float;
Or seek at noon the woodland scene remote,
Where the gray linnets carol from the hill:
O let them ne'er, with artificial note,
To please a tyrant, strain the little bill,
But sing what heaven inspires, and wander where they will.”
James Beattie Quotes by Topic
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James Beattie on Truth 2 quotes
View all 2 quotes on Truth →James Beattie on Immortality 2 quotes
“On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.”
James Beattie on Ageing
“Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.”
James Beattie on Lying
“And none speaks false, when there is none to hear.”
James Beattie on Ignorance
James Beattie on Rainbows
“And, lo! in the dark east, expanded high, The rainbow brightens to the setting Sun.”
James Beattie on Fame
James Beattie on Contentment
“From labour health, from health contentment spring; Contentment opes the source of every joy.”
James Beattie on Science
James Beattie on Clouds
“Rocks, torrents, gulfs, and shapes of giant size And glitt'ring cliffs on cliffs, and fiery ramparts rise.”
James Beattie on Character
“Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms; Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms.”
James Beattie on Zeal
“Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms; Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms.”
James Beattie on Melancholy
“To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined, Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy, When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.”
James Beattie on Birds
“Changed to a lapwing by th' avenging god, He made the barren waste his lone abode, And oft on soaring pinions hover'd o'er The lofty palace then his own no more.”
James Beattie on Fate
“Let those deplore their doom, Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn: But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn.”
James Beattie on Doom
“Let those deplore their doom, Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn: But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn.”
James Beattie on Marriage
James Beattie on Prayer
“And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe, O never, never turn away thine ear! Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below, Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!”
James Beattie on Geese
“I dare not hope to please a Cinna's ear. Or sing what Varus might vouchsafe to hear; Harsh are the sweetest lays that I can bring, So screams a goose where swans melodious sing.”
James Beattie on Ambition
“Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined? No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire, To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned; Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.”
James Beattie on Defamation
“When squint-eyed Slander plies the unhallow'd tongue, From poison'd maw when Treason weaves his line, And Muse apostate (infamy to song!) Grovels, low muttering, at Sedition's shrine.”
James Beattie on Humility
James Beattie on Evening
“At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove.”
James Beattie on Nature
“At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill, And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove.”
What James Beattie Said About Others
Discover personal opinions James Beattie shared regarding contemporaries.
James Beattie on Thomas Gray
“Of all the English poets of this age, Mr Gray is most admired, and, I think, with justice; yet there are, comparatively speaking, but a few who know any thing of his, but his "Churchyard Elegy," which is by no means the best of his works.”
About James Beattie
Professor James Beattie (October 25, 1735 – August 18, 1803) was a Scottish scholar and writer.