“Those are the ghosts of the robins and blue-birds that sang upon the bough when it was in blossom last Spring.”

— Thomas Bailey Aldrich, "Miss Mehetabel's Son," Marjorie Daw and Other People, 1873

About Thomas Bailey Aldrich

1836 – 1907

American poet and editor, author of "Ponkapog Papers".

“To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent—that is to triumph over old age.”

“All the best sands of my life are somehow getting into the wrong end of the hourglass.”

“We weep when we are born, not when we die!”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”