Robert W. Service's Quotes

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe.

Be sure your wisest words are those you do not say.

A promise made is a debt unpaid.

No man can be a failure if he thinks he's a success; If he thinks he is a winner, then he is.

I have some friends, some honest friends, and honest friends are few; My pipe of briar, my open fire, A book that's not too new.

The only society I like is rough and tough, and the tougher the better. There's where you get down to bedrock and meet human people.

Avoid extremes: be moderate In saving and in spending; An equable and easy gait Will win an easy ending.

It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race.

His life, though none too long, Was never dull: Of woman, wine and song Bill had his full.

I remember little of the Yukon or what I wrote there.

Write verse, not poetry. The public wants verse. If you have a talent for poetry, then don't by any means mother it, but try your hand at verse.

I have an intense dislike for artificial society. In France, one could lead a free life - to do what one wanted to do without interference or criticism from one's neighbors.