Robert Burns Quotes & Sayings

The poor inhabitant below Was quick to learn and wise to know And keenly felt the friendly glow And softer flame; But thoughtless follies laid him low, And stain'd his name! — Robert Burns

Go fetch to me a pint o' wine,
An' fill it in a silver tassie. — Robert Burns

The wisest man the warl' e'er saw,
He dearly loved the lasses, O. — Robert Burns

Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom's root. — Robert Burns

Great for good, or great for evil. — Robert Burns

It is cruelty to be humane to rebels, and humanity is cruelty. — Robert Burns

But facts are chiels that winna ding,
An' downa be disputed. — Robert Burns

My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune.
How fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas gang dry.
Till all the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love.
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
Though it were ten thousand mile. — Robert Burns

Oh my luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
Oh my luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune. — Robert Burns

Your lines, I maintain it, are poetry, and good poetry ... Friendship ... had I been so blest as to have met with you in time, might have led me - God of love only knows where. — Robert Burns

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. — Robert Burns

Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven. — Robert Burns

To see her is to love her,
And love but her forever;
For nature made her what she is,
And never made anither! — Robert Burns

Pleasures are like poppies spread: You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed. — Robert Burns

Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash;
Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash;
Some rhyme to court the countra clash,
An' raise a din;
For me, an aim I never fash;
I rhyme for fun. — Robert Burns

The voice of Nature loudly cries,And many a message from the skies,That something in us never dies. — Robert Burns

Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss! — Robert Burns

God knows, I'm not the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be, But twenty times I rather would be An atheist clean, Than under gospel colours hid be Just for a screen. — Robert Burns

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit. — Robert Burns

If there 's a hole in a' your coats, I rede ye tent it; A chiel 's amang ye takin' notes, And, faith, he 'll prent it. — Robert Burns

That hour o' night's black arch the keystane. — Robert Burns

Painters and poets have liberty to lie. — Robert Burns

Firmness in enduring and exertion is a character I always wish to possess. I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint and cowardly resolve. — Robert Burns

Even thou who mournst the daisy's fate, that fate is thine. — Robert Burns

[Scottish songs] are, I own, frequently wild, & unreduceable to the more modern rules; but on that very eccentricity, perhaps, depends a great part of their effect. — Robert Burns

And wild-scatter'd cowslips bedeck the green dale. — Robert Burns

Who made the heart, 'tis He alone
Decidedly can try us — Robert Burns

See Social-life and Glee sit down,
All joyous and unthinking,
Till, quite transmugrified, they're grown
Debauchery and Drinking — Robert Burns

But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love forever. — Robert Burns

I am little acquainted with politeness, but I know a good deal of benevolence of temper and goodness of heart. — Robert Burns

Pharmaceutical projects are like fresh fruit - they depreciate if they are not tended to, and they do poorly if sitting on the shelf with long periods of inactivity. — Robert Burns

'T is sweeter for thee despairing Than aught in the world beside,-Jessy! — Robert Burns

The fear o' hell's a hangman's whip to haud the wretch in order; But where ye feel your honor grip, let that aye be your border. — Robert Burns

Some books are lies frae end to end,
And some great lies were never penn'd ... — Robert Burns

All-cheering Plenty, with her flowing horn,
Led yellow Autumn, wreath'd with nodding corn.
[Brigs of Ayr] — Robert Burns

For thus the royal mandate ran, When first the human race began, "The social, friendly honest man, Whate'er he be, Tis he fulfils great Nature's plan, And none but he!" — Robert Burns

My Heart's In The Highlands
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
Chorus.-My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands, &c. — Robert Burns

A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and a' that; But an honest man's aboon his might: Guid faith, he maunna fa' that. — Robert Burns

Farewell, my friends! farewell, my foes! My peace with these, my love with those. The bursting tears my heart declare; Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr. — Robert Burns

Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious. — Robert Burns

But deep this truth impress'd my mind:
Thro' all His works abroad,
The heart benevolent and kind
The most resembles God. — Robert Burns

O, my luve is like a red, red rose. — Robert Burns

Now Simmer blinks on flowery braes,
And o'er the chrystal streamlets plays;
Come let us spend the lightsome days
In the birks of Aberfeldy. — Robert Burns

And like a passing thought, she fled In light away. — Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne. — Robert Burns

Never generally means "at no point in time." The term comes from the words 'no' and 'ever', meaning that something is not ever going to happen. Sourced — Robert Burns

Oatcakes are a delicate relish when eaten warm with ale. — Robert Burns

A gaudy dress and gentle air May slightly touch the heart; But it's innocence and modesty That polishes the dart. — Robert Burns

How wretched is the person who hangs on by the favors of the powerful. — Robert Burns

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing. — Robert Burns

O, Life! how pleasant is thy morning,
Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning!
Cold pausing Caution's lesson scorning,
We frisk away,
Like schoolboys, at the expected warning,
To joy and play. — Robert Burns

Suspense is worse than disappointment. — Robert Burns

Mankind is an unco squad And muckle he may grieve thee. — Robert Burns

To step aside is human. — Robert Burns

An honest man here lies at rest,
The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm'd,
Few heads with knowledge so inform'd;
If there's another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this. — Robert Burns

Be Briton still to Britain true,
Among oursel's united;
For never but by British hands
Maun British wrangs be righted. — Robert Burns

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. — Robert Burns

O Life! thou art a galling load,
Along a rough, a weary road,
To wretches such as I! — Robert Burns

Not the bee upon the blossom,
In the pride o' sunny noon;
Not the little sporting fairy,
All beneath the simmer moon;
Not the poet, in the moment
Fancy lightens in his e'e,
Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture,
That thy presence gi'es to me. — Robert Burns

Even every ray of hope destroyed and not a wish to gild the gloom. — Robert Burns

Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new. — Robert Burns

My dear, my native soil! For whom my warmest wish to Heav'n is sent, Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet content! — Robert Burns

By Oppression's woes and pains!
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free!
Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!
Let us do or die! — Robert Burns

I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence. — Robert Burns

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victory! Now 's the day and now 's the hour; See the front o' battle lour. — Robert Burns

What's a' your jargon o' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools; If honest nature made you fools. — Robert Burns

While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things,
The fate of empires and the fall of kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp the Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention. — Robert Burns

They never sought in vain that sought the Lord alright! — Robert Burns

Such is the fate of simple Bard,
On life's rough ocean luckless starr'd — Robert Burns

The wide world is all before us - but a world without a friend. — Robert Burns

Nature's law, That man was made to mourn. Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn! O Death, the poor man's dearest friend, The kindest and the best! — Robert Burns

To make three guineas do the work of five. — Robert Burns

Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell. — Robert Burns

O Scotia! my dear, my native soil!
For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent — Robert Burns

Dare to be honest and fear no labor. — Robert Burns

Mankind is a science that defies definitions. — Robert Burns

John Barleycorn was a hero bold, Of noble enterprise, For if you do but taste his blood, 'Twill make your courage rise, Twill make a man forget his wo; 'Twill heighten all his joy. — Robert Burns

If naebody care for me,I'll care for naebody. — Robert Burns

I'm truly sorry man's dominion has broken Nature's social union. — Robert Burns

Humid seal of soft affections,
Tend'rest pledge of future bliss,
Dearest tie of young connections,
Love's first snow-drop, virgin kiss. — Robert Burns

A eunuch is a man who has had his work cut out for him. — Robert Burns

And there begins a lang digression about the lords o' the creation. — Robert Burns

The heart that is generous and kind most resembles God. — Robert Burns

There's some are fou o' love divine; There's some are fou o' brandy. — Robert Burns

Suspense is worst than disappointment. — Robert Burns

When chill November's surly blast make fields and forest bare. — Robert Burns

Some wee short hour ayont the twal. — Robert Burns

Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
Robert Burns — Robert Burns

Critics! Those cut-throat bandits in the paths of fame. — Robert Burns

What's done we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted. — Robert Burns

God help the teacher, if a man of sensibility and genius, when a booby father presents him with his booby son, and insists on lighting up the rays of science in a fellow's head whose skull is impervious and inaccessible by any other way than a positive fracture with a cudgel. — Robert Burns

Dear Sir, I'll gie ye some advice,
You'll tak it no uncivil:
You shouldna paint at angels, man,
But try and paint the Devil.

To paint an angel's kittle wark,
Wi' Nick there's little danger;
You'll easy draw a lang-kent face,
But no sae weel a stranger. — Robert Burns

Morality, thou deadly bane,Thy tens o' thousands thou has slain! — Robert Burns

Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn! — Robert Burns

Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain. — Robert Burns

God knows, I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be. — Robert Burns

A women can make an average man great, and a great man average. — Robert Burns

Now's the day and now's the hour. — Robert Burns

Look abroad through Nature's range, Nature's mighty law is change. — Robert Burns

It 's guid to be merry and wise, It 's guid to be honest and true, It 's guid to support Caledonia's cause, And bide by the buff and the blue. — Robert Burns