Robert Burns Quotes

Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us!

My heart 's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart 's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer.

Now's the day and now's the hour.

Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire.

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.

The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o' the morn.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft a-gley, And leave us nought but grief and pain, For promised joy.

Dare to be honest and fear no labor.

But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, it's bloom is shed; Or, like the snow-fall in the river, A moment white, then melts forever.

Learn taciturnity and let that be your motto!

Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.

Pleasures are like poppies spread: You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed.

Suspicion is a heavy armor and with its weight it impedes more than it protects.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min?

But to see her was to love her, Love but her, and love forever. Had we never lou'd sae kindly, Had we never lou'd sae blindly, Never met - or never parted - We had ne'er been broken hearted

To make a happy fireside clime To weans and wife, That's the true pathos and sublime Of human life.

My dear, my native soil! For whom my warmest wish to Heav'n is sent, Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet content!

A women can make an average man great, and a great man average.

The golden hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my dearie, For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary.

But to see her was to love her, Love but her, and love forever.

If there's another world, he lives in bliss; if there is none, he made the best of this.

Then gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Though they may gang a kennin' wrang, To step aside is human.

Oh my luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June; Oh my luve's like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune.

Firmness in enduring and exertion is a character I always wish to possess. I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint and cowardly resolve.

God knows, I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley.

Go fetch to me a pint o' wine, An' fill it in a silver tassie.

The honest man, though e'er sae poor, Is king o' men, for a' that!

The voice of Nature loudly cries,And many a message from the skies,That something in us never dies.

O, my luve is like a red, red rose.

She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonny wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine.

It 's guid to be merry and wise, It 's guid to be honest and true, It 's guid to support Caledonia's cause, And bide by the buff and the blue.

The best laid plans take 40 years to complete.

Auld Nature swears the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O; Her 'prentice han' she tried on man, And then she made the lasses, O!

Mankind is a science that defies definitions.

How wretched is the person who hangs on by the favors of the powerful.

Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom's root.

Anticipation forward points the view.

O, wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An' foolish notion.

Even thou who mournst the daisy's fate, That fate is thine--no distant date; Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives, elate, Full on thy bloom, Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight Shall be thy doom!

I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence.

Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash; Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash; Some rhyme to court the countra clash, An' raise a din; For me, an aim I never fash; I rhyme for fun.

When chill November's surly blast Made fields and forests bare.

Suspense is worst than disappointment.

Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing.

His locked, lettered, braw brass collar, Shewed him the gentleman and scholar.

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane In proving foresight may be vain The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promis'd joy!

Beauty's of a fading nature. Has a season and is gone!

Ambition is a meteor-gleam; Fame a restless airy dream; Pleasures, insects on the wing Round Peace, th' tend rest flow'r of spring.