Robert Frost
173 quotes
Biography
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes.
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."
"A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body - the wishbone."
"We love the things we love for what they are."
"These woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep."
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."
"Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I've tasted of desire,I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twiceI think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice."
"A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness."
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane."
"Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on TheeAnd I'll forgive Thy great big one on me."
"Humor is the most engaging cowardice."
"Freedom lies in being bold."
"Poetry is what gets lost in translation."
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference."
"I am not a teacher, but an awakener."
"The rain to the wind said,You push and I'll pelt.'They so smote the garden bedThat the flowers actually knelt,And lay lodged--though not dead.I know how the flowers felt."
"There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies."
"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession."
"The heart can think of no devotionGreater than being shore to the ocean-Holding the curve of one position,Counting an endless repetition."
"We dance round in a ring and suppose,But the Secret sits in the middle and knows."
"I'd like to get away from earth awhileAnd then come back to it and begin over.May no fate wilfully misunderstand meAnd half grant what I wish and snatch me awayNot to return. Earth's the right place for love:I don't know where it's likely to go better."
"We ran as if to meet the moon."
"The way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom a hemlock treeHas given my heartA change of moodAnd saved some partOf a day I had rued."
"And were an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world."
"A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or a love sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."