Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Quotes

He said true things, but called them by wrong names.

The beautiful seems right by force of beauty and the feeble wrong because of weakness.

World's use is cold, world's love is vain, world's cruelty is bitter bane; but is not the fruit of pain.

A woman is always younger than a man at equal years.

Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished.

If thou must love me, let it be for naught except for love's sake only.

Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes.

Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who's sorry for a gnat or girl?

Who so loves believes the impossible.

You were made perfectly to be loved - and surely I have loved you, in the idea of you, my whole life long.

God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame.

At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.

Light tomorrow with today!

Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

And each man stands with his face in the light. Of his own drawn sword, ready to do what a hero can.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.

What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

An ignorance of means may minister to greatness, but an ignorance of aims make it impossible to be great at all.

God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face, A gauntlet with a gift in it.