Poetry Quote by Washington Irving — Inspiring Words on Life, Love & Wisdom

“Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.”

“There is nothing in this world so hard to get at as truth, and there is nothing in this world but truth that I care for.”

“For my part, I love to give myself up to the illusion of poetry. A hero of fiction that never existed is just as valuable to me as a hero of history that existed a thousand years ago.”

“...ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves.”

“No! no! My engagement is with no bride--the worms! the worms expect me! I am a dead man--I have been slain by robbers--my body lies at Wurtzburg--at midnight I am to be buried--the grave is waiting for me--I must keep my appointment!”

“It is almost startling to hear this warning of departed time sounding among the tombs, and telling the lapse of the hour, which, like a billow, has rolled us onward towards the grave.”

“Great poetry needs no interpreter other than a responsive heart.”

“You can learn more by going to the opera than you ever can by reading Emerson. Like that there are two sexes.”

“How could poetry and literature have arisen from something as plebian as the cuneiform equivalent of grocery-store bar codes? I prefer the version in which Prometheus brought writing to man from the gods. But then I remind myself that…we should not be too fastidious about where great ideas come from. Ultimately, they all come from a wrinkled organ that at its healthiest has the color and consistency of toothpaste, and in the end only withers and dies.”

“Follow, poet, follow right”

“you were not wrong for leaving”

“I haven’t been very impressed lately.”