Oliver Wendell Holmes

Famous quotes containing the words oliver wendell holmes, wendell holmes, oliver wendell and/or wendell:

    And when you stick on conversation’s burrs,
    Don’t strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.
    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    Unpretending mediocrity is good, and genius is glorious; but a weak flavor of genius in an essentially common person is detestable. It spoils the grand neutrality of a commonplace character, as the rinsings of an unwashed wine-glass spoil a draught of fair water.
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    The fourth; he broke into a roar;
    The fifth; his waistband split;
    The sixth; he burst five buttons off,
    And tumbled in a fit.
    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
    That was built in such a logical way
    It ran a hundred years to a day,
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)