REBECCA: A child’s spirit is like a child, you cannot catch it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back.
Quotations about:
return
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Life was given me as a favour; I may consequently give it back, when it is no longer so.
[La vie m’a été donnée comme une faveur ; je puis donc la rendre lorsqu’elle ne l’est plus.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Persian Letters [Lettres Persanes], Letter 76, Usbek to Ibben (1721) [tr. Ozell (1760 ed.), No. 77]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Life was given to me as a favour; I may then return it, when it is no more so.
[tr. Floyd (1762)]Life was given me as a blessing; when it ceases to be so I can give it up.
[tr. Davidson (1891)]Life was bestowed upon me as a favor; I may then give it back when it is a favor no longer.
[tr. Betts (1897)]Life has been given to me as a favor, which I can return when it is that no longer.
[tr. Healy (1964)]Life was given to me as a kind of favor; when it ceases to be that, I can put an end to it.
[tr. MacKenzie (2014)]
And now you’ll be telling stories
of my coming back
and they won’t be false, and they won’t be true,
but they’ll be real.Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
“The First Time Percy Came Back,” A Thousand Mornings (2012)
(Source)
Where music thundered let the mind be still,
Where the will triumphed let there be no will,
What light revealed, now let the dark fulfill.May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
“Now Voyager”
(Source)
First published in The Lion and the Rose, Part 3 (1948).
Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross. I will not say it shall be so, but rather I will say, here in this world he changed his life. But many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus Rex, quondam Rex que futurus.
[Here lies Arthur, the once and future king.]
No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Turkish proverb
Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are those that other people have lent me.
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
La vie littéraire (1888)
Those who demand consideration for their sacrifices were making investments, not sacrifices.
James Richardson (b. 1950) American poet
Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays, # 2 (2001)
‘Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog’s honest bark
Bay deep-mouth’d welcome as we draw near home;
‘Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
Our coming, and look brighter when we come.
The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies.[Facilis descensus Averno:
Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est.]Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 126ff (6.126-129) [The Sybil] (29-19 BC) [tr. Dryden (1697)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:To hel's an easie way,
Black Pluto's gates stand open night and day,
But to return, and the bright aire to view,
This is the worke, the labour of a few.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]Easy is the path that leads down to hell; grim Pluto's gate stands open night and day: but to retrace one's steps, and escape to the upper regions, this is a work, this is a task.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]The journey down to the abyss
Is prosperous and light:
The palace-gates of gloomy Dis
Stand open day and night:
But upward to retrace the way
And pass into the light of day,
There comes the stress of labour; this
May task a hero's might.
[tr. Conington (1866)]Easy the way
Down to Avernus; night and day the gates
Of Dis stand open. But to retrace thy steps
And reach the upper air, -- here lies the task,
The difficulty here.
[tr. Cranch (1872)]Easy is the descent into hell; all night and day the gate of dark Dis stands open; but to recall thy steps and issue to upper air, this is the task and burden.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]Avernus' road is easy faring down;
All day and night is open wide the door of Dis the black;
But thence to gain the upper air, and win the footsteps back,
This is the deed, this is the toil.
[tr. Morris (1900)]Down to Avernus the descent is light,
The gate of Dis stands open day and night.
But upward thence thy journey to retrace,
There lies the labour; 'tis a task of might.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 19, l. 166ff]The downward path to death
Is easy; all the livelong night and day
Dark Pluto's door stands open for a guest.
But O! remounting to the world of light,
This is a task indeed, a strife supreme.
[tr. Williams (1910)]Easy is the descent to Avernus: night and day the door of gloomy Dis stands open; but to recall thy steps and pass out to the upper air, this is the task, this the toil!
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]By night, by day, the portals of dark Dis
Stand open: it is easy, the descending
Down to Avernus. But to climb again,
To trace the footsteps back to the air above,
There lies the task, the toil.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]The way to Avernus is easy;
Night and day lie open the gates of death's dark kingdom:
But to retrace your steps, to find the way back to daylight --
That is the task, the hard thing.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]Easy
the way that leads into Avernus: day
and night the door to darkest Dis is open.
But to recall your steps, to rise again
into the upper air; that is the labor;
that is the task.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 175ff]The way downward is easy from Avernus.
Black Dis's door stands open night and day.
But to retrace your steps to heaven's air,
There is the trouble, there is the toil.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]It is easy to go down to the underworld. The door of black Dis stands open night and day. But to retrace your steps and escape to the upper air, that is the task, that is the labor.
[tr. West (1990)]The path to hell is easy:
black Dis’s door is open night and day:
but to retrace your steps, and go out to the air above,
that is work, that is the task.
[tr. Kline (2002)]The road down
To Avernus is easy. Day and night
The door to black Dis stands open.
But to retrace your steps and come out
To the upper air, this is the task,
The labor.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]The descent to the Underworld is easy.
Night and day the gates of shadowy Death stand open wide,
but to retrace your steps, to climb back to the upper air --
there the struggle, there the labor lies.
[tr. Fagles (2006), l. 149ff]It's easy to descend into Avernus
Night and day the door of dusky Dis lies open.
To trace your steps and see the light again:
here's the toil and effort.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]It is easy to go down into Hell;
Night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide;
But to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air --
There's the rub, the task.
[Source]
There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 7 “Homeward Bound” [Frodo] (1955)
(Source)
Oh, what more sweet than when, from care set free,
The spirit lays its burden down, and we,
With distant travel spent, come home and spread
Our limbs to rest along the wished-for bed.[O quid solutis est beatius curis,
cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,
desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 31 “To Sirmio,” ll. 7-10 [tr. T. Martin (1861)]
(Source)
Sirmio was the peninsula where his country villa was built, present-day Sirmione on Lago di Garda.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:O, what so sweet as cares redress'd!
When the tir'd mind lays down its load;
When, with each foreign toil oppress'd,
We reach at length our own abode;
On our own wish'd-for couch recline,
And taste the bliss of sleep divine!
[tr. Nott (1795), # 28]Then when the mind its load lays down;
When we regain, all hazards past,
And with long ceaseless travel tired,
Our household god again our own;
And press in tranquil sleep at last
The well-known bed so oft desired.
[tr. Lamb (1821)]Sweetest of sweets to me that pastime seems,
When the mind drops her burden: when -- the pain
Of travel past -- our own cot we regain
And nestle on the pillow of our dreams.
[tr. Calverley (1862)]Oh! what more blessèd than to find
Release from all our cares!
When layeth down the weary mind
The burden that it bears:
When, all our toil of travel o'er,
Our hearth again we tread,
And lay us down in peace once more
On the long-wish'd-for bed.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]Days of happiness and bless,
What in life can match with this?
When with lightened heart the mind
Care and sorrow leaves behind,
And our weary wanderings o'er,
We have reached our own loved door,
And so no more abroad to roam,
Taste the dear delights of home.
[tr. Bliss (1872)]Is there a scene more sweet than when
our clinging cares are undercase,
And, worn by alien moils and men,
The long untrodden sill repassed,
We press the kindly couch at last,
And find a full repayment there?
[tr. Hardy (1887)]Oh what more blessèd be than cares resolved,
When mind casts burthen and by peregrine
Work over wearied, lief we hie us home
To lie reposing in the longed-for bed!
[tr. Burton (1893)]O what greater blessing than cares released, when the mind casts down its burden, and when wearied with the toil of travel we reach our hearth, and rest in the long-for bed.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]To think, O joy! that once again
I should be here upon my native soil!
At ease! O guerdon sweet! when, after wars,
With journeyings and vigils sore bestead,
Our own old home we come to, and the bed
So often longed for under alien stars.
[tr. Harman (1897)]Ah , what is more blessed than to put cares away, when the mind lays by its burden, and tired with labour of far travel we have come to our own home and rest on the couch we longed for.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]O what is sweeter than when loosed from care, when the mind throws down its burden, way-worn we reach our own hearth and at last find repose in the bed we have so often longed for.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]Oh, what is sweeter than, when toil is past,
To come back home, the mind care-free at last,
The foreign labors done, the rest well-earned,
To seek the welcome couch for which we've yearned?
[tr. Stewart (1915)]What joys so keen as all one's cares to shed,
To ease the burdened mind, no more to roam,
All travel-worn to reach th' ancestral home,
And rest at length in the long looked for bed.
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]Joy beyond joy to loose the cares that chafe
And lay aside the burden of the mind!
Home after toilsome travel, home once more,
Snug in the cosy bed we wearied for.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]Can there be more joy than this
To throw off the chains of office and in calm domestic bliss,
Wearied with the strain of travel, once again to rest my head,
Full reward of all my labours, in my dear, my longed-for bed?
[tr. Wright (1926)]After many months of travel, nothing's better than to rest, relaxed and careless; sleep is heaven in our own beloved bed.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]For what can be more blissful than to ease
One's troubles, when the mind puts off its load
And I return, all care-worn, to my hearth
And sleep in the bed I've longed for?
[tr. Hollander (1976)]What could be better? Every care dissolving, shedding the burden of an exhausting journey, back home among the gods of our own household we find at last the couch, the rest we desired!
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]O what freedom from care is more joyful
than when the mind lays down its burden,
and weary, back home from foreign toil,
we rest in the bed we longed for?
[tr. Kline (2001)]What greater bliss than when, cares all dissolved,
the mind lays down its burden, and, exhausted
by our foreign labors we at last reach home
and sink into the bed we've so long yearned for?
[tr. Green (2005)]O what is happier than worries released,
when the mind sets aside its burden, and we
having been exhausted from foreign labor, have come to our home,
and we rest in our longed for bed?
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]
I am rarely happier than when spending entire day programming my computer to perform automatically a task that it would otherwise take me a good ten seconds to do by hand.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
Last Chance to See, ch. 2 (1991)
