“Labour itself is but a sorrowful song, The protest of the weak against the strong.”

— Frederick William Faber, Hymns (1871), "The Sorrowful World", st. 15

About Frederick William Faber

1814 – 1863

English Catholic priest and hymn writer.

“Kindness has converted more sinners than either zeal, eloquence, or learning.”

“Faith is a letting down our nets into the untransparent deeps at the divine command, not knowing what we shall take.”

“The buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and founder.”

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!”

“We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.”

“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.”

“Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do.”

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness?”

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”