WIST Quotations

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Heart of the New Thought, “The Object of Life” (1903)

Dave — Wed, 07 May 2025 23:03:36 +0000

To possess character is to be useful, and to be useful is to be independent, and to be useful and independent, is to be happy, even in the midst of sorrow; for sorrow is not necessarily unhappiness.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Heart of the New Thought, “The Object of Life” (1903)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poems of Passion, Epigraph (1883)

Dave — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 21:16:03 +0000

Oh, you who read some song that I have sung,
What know you of the soul from whence it sprung?
Dost dream the poet ever speaks aloud
His secret thought unto the listening crowd?
Go take the murmuring sea-shell from the shore:
You have its shape, its color and no more.
It tells not one of those vast mysteries
That lie beneath the surface of the seas.
Our songs are shells, cast out by-waves of thought;
Here, take them at your pleasure; but think not
You’ve seen beneath the surface of the waves,
Where lie our shipwrecks and our coral caves.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poems of Passion, Epigraph (1883)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poems of Passion, Preface (1883)

Dave — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 22:25:21 +0000

It is impossible to pursue a successful literary career and follow the advice of all one’s “best friends.” I have received severe censure from my orthodox friends for writing liberal verses. My liberal friends condemn my devout and religious poems as “aiding superstition.” My early temperance verses were pronounced “fanatical trash” by others.
With all due thanks and appreciation for the kind motives which interest so many dear friends in my career, I yet feel compelled to follow the light which my own intellect and judgment cast upon my way, rather than any one of the many conflicting rays which other minds would lend me.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poems of Passion, Preface (1883)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Essay (1902), “A Worn Out Creed,” Heart of the New Thought

Dave — Wed, 21 May 2025 15:45:05 +0000

I have always been looking for the noble qualities in human beings, and I have found them. There are great souls all along the highway of life, and there are great qualities even in the people who seem common and weak to us ordinarily.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Essay (1902), “A Worn Out Creed,” Heart of the New Thought
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1868), “An Autumn Reverie,” st. 4-5, Shells (1873)

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:37:23 +0000

And yet I would not be a child again.
For surely as the night succeeds the day,
So surely will their mirth turn into tears.
And I would not return to happy hours,
If I must live again these weary years.
I would walk on, and leave it all behind:
will walk on; and when my feet grow sore,
The boatman waits — his sails are all unfurled —
He waits to row me to a fairer shore.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1868), “An Autumn Reverie,” st. 4-5, Shells (1873)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 4, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:37:37 +0000

’T were a dull old world, methinks, my friend,
If we all just went one way;
Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end,
Though they lead apart today.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 4, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 8, Maurine and Other Poems (1888 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:27:40 +0000

I must live my life, not yours, my friend,
For so it was written down;
We must follow our given paths to the end,
But I trust we shall meet — in town.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 8, Maurine and Other Poems (1888 ed.)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1882), “All Mad,” st. 1, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 19:08:58 +0000

“He is mad as a hare, poor fellow,
And should be in chains” you say,
I haven’t a doubt of your statement,
But who isn’t mad, I pray?
Why, the world is a great asylum,
And the people are all insane,
Gone daft with pleasure or folly,
Or crazed with passion and pain.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “All Mad,” st. 1, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)

Also collected in Poems of Cheer (1910) and Poems of Life (1919).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1882), “Uselessness,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:06:43 +0000

Let mine not be the saddest fate of all,
To live beyond my greater self; to see
My faculties decaying, as the tree
Stands stark and helpless while its green leaves fall.
Let me hear rather the imperious call,
Which all men dread, in my glad morning time,
And follow death ere I have reached my prime,
Or drunk the strengthening cordial of life’s gall.
The lightning’s stroke or the fierce tempest blast
Which fells the green tree to the earth to-day
Is kinder than the calm that lets it last,
Unhappy witness of its own decay.
May no man ever look on me and say,
“She lives, but all her usefulness is past.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “Uselessness,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)

Also collected in Poems of Life (1901) and Poems of Cheer (1910).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1882), “Will,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 18:31:06 +0000

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “Will,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1883-02-25), “Solitude,” ll. 1-4, New York Sun

Dave — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:11:57 +0000

Laugh and the world laughs with you,
Weep and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1883-02-25), “Solitude,” ll. 1-4, New York Sun
(Source)

Possibly the most famous of Wilcox' works, these are the first four lines (the only ones anyone remembers) of three eight-line stanzas. Wilcox was paid $5 by the Sun.

Wilcox' original title was "The Way of the World," but the Sun editor changed it to "Solitude." She kept that new title when it was collected into Poems of Passion (1883).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1883), “Upon the Sand,” Poems of Passion

Dave — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:49:54 +0000

All love that has not friendship for its base
Is like a mansion built upon the sand.
Though brave its walls as any in the land,
And its tall turrets lift their heads in grace;
Though skilful and accomplished artists trace
Most beautiful designs on every hand,
And gleaming statues in dim niches stand,
And fountains play in some flow’r-hidden place:

Yet, when from the frowning east a sudden gust
Of adverse fate is blown, or sad rains fall,
Day in, day out, against its yielding wall,
Lo! the fair structure crumbles to the dust.
Love, to endure life’s sorrow and earth’s woe,
Needs friendship’s solid mason-work below.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1883), “Upon the Sand,” Poems of Passion
(Source)

See Matthew 7:24-27.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1888), “Optimism,” ll. 9-14, Poems of Pleasure

Dave — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 22:17:09 +0000

And e’en in this great throe of pain called Life
I find a rapture linked with each despair,
Well worth the price of anguish. I detect
More good than evil in humanity.
Love lights more fires than hate extinguishes,
And men grow better as the world grows old.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1888), “Optimism,” ll. 9-14, Poems of Pleasure
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:43:51 +0000

And however dark the skies may appear,
And however souls may blunder,
I tell you it all will work out clear,
For good lies over and under.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “The World” st. 2, Once A Week, Vol. 10, No. 6 (1892-11-19)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:56:09 +0000

If you dare to sail first o’er a new thought track,
For a while it will scourge and score you;
Then, coming abreast with a skillful tack,
It will clasp your hand and slap your back,
And vow it was there before you.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “The World” st. 2, Once A Week, Vol. 10, No. 6 (1892-11-19)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:05:48 +0000

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 2, An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:32:07 +0000

It is easy enough to be prudent
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it’s only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honour on earth
Is the one that resists desire.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 2, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896-10), “Life’s Scars,” st. 3, Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Vol. 42, No. 4

Dave — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:54:08 +0000

The choicest garb, the sweetest grace,
Are oft to strangers shown;
The careless mien, the frowning face,
Are given to our own.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896-10), “Life’s Scars,” st. 3, Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Vol. 42, No. 4
(Source)

Originally published in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol. 42, #4 (1896-10)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “Here and Now.” st. 4, Custer and Other Poems

Dave — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:12:24 +0000

Not in some cloister or cave,
Not in some kingdom above,
Here, on this side of the grave,
Here, should we labor and love.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “Here and Now.” st. 4, Custer and Other Poems
(Source)

Closing lines.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “Preaching vs. Practice,” st. 4, Custer and Other Poems

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 18:44:17 +0000

It is easy to tell the toiler
How best he can carry his pack,
But no one can rate a burden’s weight
Until it has been on his back.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “Preaching vs. Practice,” st. 4, Custer and Other Poems
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “The World’s Need,” Custer and Other Poems

Dave — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:20:10 +0000

So many gods, so many creeds;
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “The World’s Need,” Custer and Other Poems
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “You Never Can Tell,” ll. 9-12, Custer And Other Poems

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 13:56:25 +0000

You never can tell when you do an act
Just what the result will be;
But with every deed you are sowing a seed,
Though the harvest you may not see.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “You Never Can Tell,” ll. 9-12, Custer And Other Poems
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “You Never Can Tell,” st. 3, Custer and Other Poems

Dave — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 19:42:45 +0000

You never can tell what your thoughts may do,
In bringing you hate or love,
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings
Are swifter than carrier doves.
They follow the law of the universe —
Each thing must create its kind,
And they speed o’er the track to bring you back
Whatever went out of your mind.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “You Never Can Tell,” st. 3, Custer and Other Poems
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1897-12), “Songs from the Turret,” part 5, st. 3, Three Women

Dave — Wed, 28 May 2025 16:13:25 +0000

If I were a doe, dear, and you were a brook,
Ah, what would I do then, think you?
I would kneel by the bank, in the grasses dank,
And drink you, drink you, drink you.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1897-12), “Songs from the Turret,” part 5, st. 3, Three Women
(Source)

Part 5 was later published as a separate poem, "If I Were," The Englishman and Other Poems (1900).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1900-05), “We Two,” st. 2, The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1

Dave — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 16:04:25 +0000

We two make banquets of the plainest fare;
In every cup we find the thrill of pleasure;
We hide with wreaths the furrowed brow of care
And win to smiles the set lips of despair.
For us life always moves with lilting measure;
We two, we two, we make our world, our pleasure.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1900-05), “We Two,” st. 2, The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1
(Source)

Collected in Poems of Power (1902)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1901), “Climbing,” ll. 1-3, New Thought Pastels (1906)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 17:38:15 +0000

Who climbs the mountain does not always climb.
The winding road slants downward many a time;
Yet each descent is higher than the last.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1901), “Climbing,” ll. 1-3, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1901), “Give,” st. 3, New Thought Pastels (1906)

Dave — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:48:05 +0000

Give of thy gold, though small thy portion be.
Gold rusts and shrivels in the hand that keeps it.
It grows in one that opens wide and free.
Who sows his harvest is the one who reaps it.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1901), “Give,” st. 3, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1902), “Which Are You?” st. 6-7, Poems of Power

Dave — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:51:38 +0000

No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses
Are always divided in just these two classes.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1902), “Which Are You?” st. 6-7, Poems of Power
(Source)

Sometimes titled "Lifting and Leaning".

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “‘Credulity,'” st. 1-2, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:26:30 +0000

If fallacies come knocking at my door,
I’d rather feed, and shelter full a score,
Than hide behind the black portcullis, doubt,
And run the risk of barring one Truth out.

And if pretension for a time deceive,
And prove me one too ready to believe,
Far less my shame, than if by stubborn act,
I brand as lie, some great colossal Fact.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “‘Credulity,'” st. 1-2, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Assistance,” l. 9ff, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 19:16:40 +0000

Look to the Great Eternal Cause
And not to any man, for light.
Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,
From your own soul’s unwritten laws.
And when you question, or demur,
Let Love be your Interpreter.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “Assistance,” l. 9ff, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Climbing,” ll. 9-10, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:50:43 +0000

Who would attain to summits still and fair,
Must nerve himself through valleys of despair.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “Climbing,” ll. 9-10, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 19:11:53 +0000

Give words of comfort, of defence, and hope,
To mortals crushed by sorrow and by error.
And though thy feet through shadowy paths may grope,
Thou shalt not walk in loneliness or terror.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “The Way,” ll. 5-13, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:50:30 +0000

Hell is wherever Love is not, and Heaven
Is Love’s location. No dogmatic creed,
No austere faith based on ignoble fear
Can lead thee into realms of joy and peace.
Unless the humblest creatures on the earth
Are bettered by thy loving sympathy
Think not to find a Paradise beyond.

There is no sudden entrance into Heaven.
Slow is the ascent by the path of Love.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “The Way,” ll. 5-13, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “The Word,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:00:22 +0000

You may choose your word like a connoisseur,
And polish it up with art,
But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays,
Is the word that comes from the heart.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “The Word,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Understood,” st. 1, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 16:58:29 +0000

I value more than I despise
My tendency to sin,
Because it helps me sympathize
With all my tempted kin.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “Understood,” st. 1, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1909), “The Drama of Mizpah: Honeymoon Scene,” Poems of Progress

Dave — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:14:24 +0000

AHASUERAS: I am content.

ESTHER: Content is not the pathway to great deeds.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1909), “The Drama of Mizpah: Honeymoon Scene,” Poems of Progress
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1911), “Love’s Language,” st. 2, Poems of Progress, Preface

Dave — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 18:45:01 +0000

There is no language that Love does not speak:
To-day commanding and to-morrow meek,
One hour laconic and the next verbose,
With hope triumphant and with doubt morose,
His varying moods all forms of speech employ.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1911), “Love’s Language,” st. 2, Poems of Progress, Preface
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1913), “The Winds of Fate,” Poems of Optimism (1915)

Dave — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:06:30 +0000

One ship drives east and another drives west,
With the self-same winds that blow,
‘Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
That tell them way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the winds of fate,
As we journey along through life,
‘Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1913), “The Winds of Fate,” Poems of Optimism (1915)
(Source)

Sometimes called "'Tis the Set of the Sail."

There is a longer variant of the poem, sometimes called "One Ship Sails East," that includes two stanzas in front, and has slightly different words in the analogous stanzas. I have not found a primary source for this version:

But to every mind there openeth,
A way, and way, and away,
A high soul climbs the highway,
And the low soul gropes the low,
And in between on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.

But to every man there openeth,
A high way and a low,
And every mind decideth,
The way his soul shall go.

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
'Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1914), “Protest,” ll. 1-2, Poems of Problems

Dave — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:51:13 +0000

To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1914), “Protest,” ll. 1-2, Poems of Problems
(Source)

Often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln, after Douglas MacArthur did so in a 1950 speech.

See Confucius.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem, “I Love You,” ll. 1-4

Dave — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:17:48 +0000

I love your lips when they’re wet with wine
And red with a wild desire;
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies
Lit with a passionate fire.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem, “I Love You,” ll. 1-4
(Source)

One of Wilcox' most quoted poems; I cannot find a source publication date or collection for it.