James Whitcomb Riley Quotes & Sayings

The anger of a person who is strong, can always bide its time. — James Whitcomb Riley

Somebody's sent a funny little valentine to me. It's a bunch of baby-roses in a vase of filigree, And hovering above them ... is a fairy cupid tangled in a scarf of poetry. — James Whitcomb Riley

Continuous, unflagging effort, persistence and determination will win. Let not the man be discouraged who has these. — James Whitcomb Riley

To make the world a friendly place, one must show it a friendly face. — James Whitcomb Riley

Just a wee cot-the crickets chirr-love and the smiling face of her. — James Whitcomb Riley

A Parting Guest
What delightful hosts are they
Life and Love!
Lingeringly I turn away,
This late hour, yet glad enough
They have not withheld from me
Their high hospitality.
So, with face lit with delight
And all gratitude, I stay
Yet to press their hands and say,
Thanks. - So fine a time! Good night. — James Whitcomb Riley

The jelly - the jam and the marmalade, And the cherry-and quince-'preserves' she made! And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear, With cinnamon in 'em, and all things rare! And the more we ate was the more to spare, Out to old Aunt Mary's! Ah! — James Whitcomb Riley

The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come. — James Whitcomb Riley

O, it sets my heart a clickin' like the tickin' of a clock, when the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. — James Whitcomb Riley

O'er folded blooms On swirls of musk, The beetle booms adown the glooms And bumps along the dusk. — James Whitcomb Riley

Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strewberries melts
On the vine. — James Whitcomb Riley

The ripest peach is highest on the tree. — James Whitcomb Riley

And the sun had on a crown
Wrought of gilded thistledown,
And a scarf of velvet vapor
And a raveled rainbow gown;
And his tinsel-tangled hair
Tossed and lost upon the air
Was glossier and flossier
Than any anywhere. — James Whitcomb Riley

As one who cons at evening o'er an album all alone,
And muses on the faces of the friends that he has known,
So I turn the leaves of Fancy, till in shadowy design
I find the smiling features of an old sweetheart of mine. — James Whitcomb Riley

Oh, the world's a curious compound, with its honey and its gall, With its cares and bitter crosses, but a good world after all. And a good God must have made it-leastways, that is what I say, When a hand is on my shoulder in a friendly sort of way. — James Whitcomb Riley

It is no use to grumble and complain; It's just as cheap and easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain - Why, rain's my choice. — James Whitcomb Riley

I bless the hoss from hoof to head -
From head to hoof, and tale to mane! -
I bless the hoss, as I have said,
From head to hoof, and back again!
— James Whitcomb Riley

One naked star has waded through
The purple shallows of the night,
And faltering as falls the dew
It drips its misty light. — James Whitcomb Riley

When you awaken some morning and hear that somebody or other has been discovered, you can put it down as a fact that he discovered himself years ago - since that time he has been toiling, working, and striving to make himself worthy of general discovery. — James Whitcomb Riley

Tell you what I like the best -
'Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strawberries melts
On the vine, - some afternoon
Like to jes' git out and rest,
And not work at nothin' else! — James Whitcomb Riley

When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck. — James Whitcomb Riley

He is not dead, he is just - away. — James Whitcomb Riley

Think of him still as the same, I say, He is not dead, he is just - away. — James Whitcomb Riley

Who bides his time tastes the sweet Of honey in the saltiest tear; And though he fares with slowest feet Joy runs to meet him drawing near. — James Whitcomb Riley