Inspirational Quotes
"Fall seven times and stand up eight." — Old Proverb
"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." — Christopher Columbus
There dawn full oft an undiscerning hour
When every charter yieldeth unto mist,
And Confidence, relinquishing her power,
Must sue to Faith where Reason doth desist.
Yet Providence, whose counsels never sleep,
Keeps hidden harvests for the souls that keep.
Then from antiquity there soundeth clear
The ancient benison no years abate:
"Fall seven times and stand up eight."
Not as a charm to banish grief or fear,
But as the covenant whereby we prove
That steadfast hearts outlive the wounds they move.
For overthrow is but the sterner school
Wherein the unconquered spirit learns her art;
Adversity, though tyrannous in rule,
Refines the adamant within the heart.
The oak's dominion, vast against the sky,
Was once a hope no eye could descry.
Thereafter comes another sovereign word,
Whose summons biddeth timid spirits soar:
"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
No mariner hath any kingdom won
Who hugged the haven fear had sanctified;
New continents await the faithful tide.
For every noble vocation asketh this:
Some cherished certainty must be resigned;
No higher benediction comes amiss
Unto the soul still fettered in the mind.
The eagle claimeth not empyreal air
Until it trust the currents hidden there.
Thus have these venerable sayings wrought
A jurisprudence graven on my breast:
That every trial beareth secret thought,
And every tempest laboureth our best.
The darkest vigil, faithfully endured,
Leaves inward realms for evermore secured.
Therefore I leave one sentence of mine own,
Not born of ease, but long affliction's fire:
"Whoso keepeth faith with the highest good, though every visible warrant perish, shall discover that Providence hath already builded the bridge whereunto his steadfast feet were called."
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