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.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“‘Tis the Set of the Sail” (1916)
Quotations by:
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler
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 and poet.
“Credulity,” New Thought Pastels (1913)
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 and poet.
“Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love (1892)
(Source)
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 and poet.
“Life’s Scars” (1896)
(Source)
Originally published in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol. 42, #4 (Oct 1896)
The two kinds of people I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Lifting and Leaning”
To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Protest,” Poems of Problems (1914)
Mistakenly attributed to Abraham Lincoln by Douglas MacArthur in a 1950 speech, and frequently since then.
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 and poet.
“Solitiude” (1883)
AHASUERAS: I am content.
ESTHER: Content is not the pathway to great deeds.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“The Drama of Mizpah: Honeymoon Scene,” Poems of Progress (1909)
(Source)
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 and poet.
“The World’s Need”
All love that has not friendship for its base
Is like a mansion built upon the sand.
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 and poet.
“You Never Can Tell,” Custer And Other Poems (1896)
(Source)