Top 100 Ne'er Quotes
#1. If I could write the beauty of your eyes And in fresh numbers number all your graces, The age to come would say, 'This poet lies; Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.'
William Shakespeare
#2. I'll ne'er distrust my God for cloth and bread while lilies flourish and the raven 's fed.
Francis Quarles
#4. Who ne'er knew salt, or heard the billows roar.
Homer
#5. So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep. But they are creul tears. This sorrow's heavenly; it strikes where it doth love.
William Shakespeare
#6. Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born.
Matthew Prior
#7. What am I going to do with ye, Grace? First, ye blacken my eye, and then ye slice me in the thigh." He chuckled. "I bet ye ne'er knew I was a poet, did ye?"
When he felt her hand pat him, he chuckled. "Ye cannae get enough of me, can ye?"
"Pardon?"
"Och, lass. That isnae my thigh.
Victoria Roberts
#8. Be sure that God Ne'er dooms to waste the strength he deigns impart.
Robert Browning
#9. Ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear, for I have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings than legs, nor no more shoes than feet
nay, sometime more feet than shoes, or such shoes as my toes look through the overleather.
William Shakespeare
#10. And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.
Mary Howitt
#11. Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.
Robert Herrick
#12. Tis true that tho' People can transcend their Characters in Times of Tranquillity, they can ne'er do so in Times of Tumult.
Erica Jong
#13. I saw thee ne'er before; I see thee never more; But love, and help, and pain, beautiful one, Have made thee mine, till all my years are done.
George MacDonald
#14. And better had they ne'er been born, Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.
Walter Scott
#15. But ne'er mind. We're but where we was; and I'll break stones on th' road afore I let these little uns clem.
Elizabeth Gaskell
#16. The untold want, by life and land ne'er granted,
Now, Voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find.
Walt Whitman
#17. And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, while the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.
Robert Treat Paine
#18. Tis strange the miser should his cares employTo gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy;Is it less strange the prodigal should wasteHis wealth to purchase what he ne'er can taste?
Alexander Pope
#19. Fit for the mountains and the barbarous caves, where manners ne'er were preached.
William Shakespeare
#20. Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes; For treason is but trusted like the fox, Who, ne'er so tame, so cherished and locked up, Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.
William Shakespeare
#21. He ne'er is crowned with immortality Who fears to follow where airy voices lead.
John Keats
#23. The great Creator to revere
Must sure become the creature;
But still the preaching cant forbear,
And ev'n the rigid feature:
Yet ne'er with wits profane to range
Be complaisance extended;An atheist laugh's a poor exchange
For deity offended.
Robert Burns
#24. And he, who servilely creeps after sense, Is safe, but ne'er will reach an excellence.
John Dryden
#25. Happy the life, that in a peaceful stream,
Obscure, unnoticed through the vale has flow'd;
The heart that ne'er was charm'd by fortune's gleam
Is ever sweet contentment's blest abode.
James Gates Percival
#26. Lass, lass! You are more desirable than any woman I have e'er known." He drew back to look at her. "E'er, I say, do you hear me? Ne'er have I been more tempted!
Sue-Ellen Welfonder
#27. Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes, but presently prevent the ways to wail.
William Shakespeare
#28. And ne er did Grecian chisel trace A Nymph, a naiad or a grace Of finer form or lovelier face ...
Walter Scott
#31. I ne'er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet,
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete
Nicholas Sparks
#32. But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast; The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.
William Cowper
#33. Being by such a noble lover kissed,
This one, who ne'er from me shall be divided,
Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating.
Dante Alighieri
#34. What good being object of charity? Give away, ne'er turn to ask in return, Should there be the wealth treasured in thy heart.
Swami Vivekananda
#35. Were floods of tears to be unloosed In tribute to my grief, The doves of Noah ne'er had roost Nor found an olive-leaf.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
#37. Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.
Michel De Montaigne
#38. Bring me a constant woman to her husband, One that ne'er dream'd a joy beyond his pleasure, And to that woman, when she has done most, Yet will I add an honour-a great patience.
William Shakespeare
#39. The welfare state has bred a generation of obnoxious, drug-addled criminals and ne'er-do-wells. It has also, incidentally, burdened what was once the world's biggest, most dynamic economy with the dead weight of an obstructive and vastly expensive state machine.
Martin Durkin
#40. Fro and to in my dreams to you
To the haunting tune of the harp
For the price I paid when you died that day
I paid that day with my heart
Fro and to in my dreams to you
With the breaking of my heart
Ne'er more again will I sing this song
Ne'er more will I hear the harp.
Maggie Stiefvater
#42. Poets like painters, thus unskilled to trace The naked nature and the living grace, With gold and jewels cover ev'ry part, And hide with ornaments their want of art. True wit is Nature to advantage dressed, What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.
Alexander Pope
#43. Tell him I love him yet,
As in that joyous time!
Tell him I ne'er forget,
Though memory now be crime!
Tell him when fades the light,
Upon the earth and sea,
I dream of him by night,
He must not dream of me!
He must not dream of me!
Caroline Fyffe
#44. Who thinks his great achievements poor
Shall find his vigour long endure.
Of greatest fulness, deemed a void,
Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.
Do thou what's straight still crooked deem;
Thy greatest art still stupid seem,
And eloquence a stammering scream.
Lao-Tzu
#45. Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers;
Unfaith is aught is want of faith in all.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
#46. There should ne'er be a time
When a duty or dime
Doth outshine
The importance of family.
Richelle E. Goodrich
#47. [They shoot, Greedo dies. [To innkeeper:] Pray, goodly Sir, forgive me for the mess. [Aside:] And whether I shot first, I'll ne'er confess! [Exeunt.
Ian Doescher
#48. Listeners ne'er hear good of themselves.
John Ray
#49. You tread upon my patience: but be sure I will from henceforth rather be myself, Mighty and to be fear'd, than my condition, Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down, And therefore lost that title of respect Which the proud soul ne'er pays but to the proud.
William Shakespeare
#51. Who ne'er his bread in sorrow ate, Who ne'er the mournful midnight hours Weeping upon his bed has sate, He knows you not, ye Heavenly Powers.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
#52. But there are wanderers o'er Eternity Whose bark drives on and on, and anchor'd ne'er shall be.
Lord Byron
#53. So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend: thy love ne'er alter, till they sweet life end
William Shakespeare
#54. O that these folding arms might ne'er undo!
Henry Petowe
#55. Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.
Alexander Pope
#56. He who fights for a ne'er-do-well has nothing to show for it except a head covered in earth and grime.
Chinua Achebe
#57. He who shall teach the child to doubtThe rotting grave shall ne'er get out.
William Blake
#58. Soon we'll be out amid the cold world's strife. Soon we'll be sliding down the razor blade of life. But as we go our sordid sep'rate ways, We shall ne'er forget thee, thou golden college days. Hearts full of youth, Hearts full of truth, Six parts gin to one part vermouth.
Tom Lehrer
#59. Friends of my youth, a last adieu! Haply some day we meet again:
Ye ne'er the self-same men shall meet; the years shall make us other men.
Richard Francis Burton
#60. I prate of ancient poets' monstrous lies,
Ne'er seen or now or then by human eyes.
Ovid
#61. Wouldst thou wisely, and with pleasure,
Pass the days of life's short measure,
From the slow one counsel take,
But a tool of him ne'er make;
Ne'er as friend the swift one know,
Nor the constant one as foe.
Friedrich Schiller
#62. Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, Is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness That even above the smiles and frowns of fate Exalts great Nature's favourites: a wealth That ne'er encumbers, nor can be transferr'd.
John Armstrong
#63. Who ne'er knew joy but friendship might divide,Or gave his father grief but when he died.
Alexander Pope
#64. Our days of praise shall ne'er be past While life, and thought, and being last, And immortality endures.
William Morley Punshon
#65. And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence,
Till perjuries are common as bad pence,
While thousands, careless of the damning sin,
Kiss the book's outside, who ne'er look'd within?
William Cowper
#66. Romances I ne'er read like those I have seen.
Lord Byron
#67. Thou art Justice ne'er for gold May thy righteous laws be sold As laws are in England thou Shield'st alike the high and low.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
#68. Silence in love betrays more woe - Than words though ne'er so witty; A beggar that is dumb, you know, may challenge double pity.
Walter Raleigh
#69. Heaven ne'er helps the men who will not act.
Sophocles
#70. An old poet, Robert Herrick, put it like this: " Our life is short, and our days run As fast away as does the sun; And, as a vapour or a drop of rain Once lost, can ne'er be found again.
Douglas Preston
#71. He's truly valiant that can wisely suffer The worst that man can breathe, and make his wrongs His outsides, to wear them like his raiment, carelessly, And ne'er prefer his injuries to his heart, To bring it into danger.
William Shakespeare
#72. Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met -- or never parted --
we had ne'er been broken-hearted
Robert Burns
#73. Forgiveness to the injured does belong; but they ne'er pardon who have done wrong.
John Dryden
#74. This is my Father's world: O let me ne'er forget That though the wrong Seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
Maltbie Davenport Babcock
#75. Whose wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade.
Charles Lamb
#76. Auguries of innocence
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
William Blake
#77. The Book of Books Within this ample volume lies The mystery of mysteries. Happiest they of human race To whom their God has given grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch, to force the way; But better had they ne'er been born That read to doubt or read to scorn.
Walter Scott
#78. Thus unlamented pass the proud away,
The gaze of fools and pageant of a day;
So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow
For others' good, or melt at others' woe.
Alexander Pope
#79. A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard ... Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides.
William Wordsworth
#80. Though lust do masque in ne'er so strange disguise she's oft found witty, but is never wise.
John Webster
#81. In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part, Without the sweet concurrence of the heart.
Robert Herrick
#82. But evil fortune has decreed, (The foe of mice as well as men) The royal mouse at last should bleed, Should fall ne'er to arise again.
Michael Bruce
#83. Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
William Shakespeare
#86. You had the morning together. He painted your half-naked body, the lucky sod. Had that been my job, your pretty clothes would ne'er have been crafted.
A.G. Howard
#87. In a drear-nighted December, Too happy, happy brook, Thy bubblings ne'er remember Apollo's summer look; But with a sweet forgetting, They stay their crystal fretting, Never, never petting About the frozen time.
John Keats
#88. Courage, ne'er by sorrow broken! Aid where tears of virtue flow; Faith to keep each promise spoken! Truth alike to friend and foe!
Friedrich Schiller
#90. The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
- "Auguries of Innocence
William Blake
#91. Those who write ill, and they who ne'er durst write,
Turn critics out of mere revenge and spite.
John Dryden
#92. To ask me is in vain;
For who goes up your winding stair
Can ne'er come down again.
Mary Howitt
#93. I have ne'er been in a chamber with a lawyer when I did not wish either to scream with desperation or else fall into the deepest of sleeps, e'en when the matter concern'd my own future most profoundly.
Erica Jong
#94. The pious farmer, who ne'er misses pray'rs, With patience suffers unexpected rain; He blesses Heav'n for what its bounty spares, And sees, resign'd, a crop of blighted grain. But, spite of sermons, farmers would blaspheme, If a star fell to set their thatch on flame.
Mary Wortley Montagu
#95. Women are not In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure the ne'er-touched vestal.
William Shakespeare
#96. 'Tis an old tale, and often told; But did my fate and wish agree, Ne'er had been read, in story old, Of maiden true betray'd for gold, That loved, or was avenged, like me!
Walter Scott
#98. What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up, And be discharged, and straight wound up anew? No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets: May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.
Robert Browning
#99. I ne'er could any lustre see In eyes that would not look on me; I ne'er saw nectar on a lip But where my own did hope to sip.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
#100. Factions among yourselves; preferring such
To offices and honors, as ne'er read
The elements of saving policy;
But deeply skilled in all the principles
That usher to destruction.
Philip Massinger
