Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Inspiring Quotes By Alfred Lord Tennyson That Will Brighten Up Your Day

Famous As: 19th Century English Poet Who was the Poet Laureate During Much of Queen Victoria's Reign
Born On: August 6, 1809
Died On: October 6, 1892
Born In: Somersby, Lincolnshire, England
Died At Age: 83

The fact that Alfred Lord Tennyson is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations tells a lot about the greatness of this ingeniously prolific British poet. Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria’s reign, he was by far one of the most renowned poets of the Victorian era. A child prodigy, Tennyson showed an early interest in writing that cemented his fate for future. However, fame and recognition did not come in easy for this creatively overpowering man as Tennyson in his early years of poetry was condemned as ‘an obscure poet’. Disheartened, he did not pen a poem for nine years. The fourth decade of the 19th century turned Tennyson’s fate and thus marked the start of a legacy. Later in 1850, when Tennyson came up with ‘In Memoriam’, it became the magnum opus of his career. His career peaked to new heights and he was counted as a successor to William Wordsworth. The work also contained many of Tennyson’s most famous phrases that have become commonplaces in English Languages. Quotes that we say often like ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ or ‘Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die’ or ‘Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers’ or ‘The old order changeth, yielding place to new’ all came in from the pen of this prolific Victorian poet. Read on to explore a compilation of some of the best known quotes by Alfred Lord Tennyson, covering various aspects of life. The quotes would surely leave a lasting impression on your mind and leave you inspired.  

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If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 
Whispering 'it will be happier'...

Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering 'it will be happier'...

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I am a part of all that I have met.

I am a part of all that I have met.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I will drink life to the lees.

I will drink life to the lees.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies.

A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Once in a golden hour 
I cast to earth a seed. 
Up there came a flower, 
The people said, a weed.

Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sometimes the heart sees what's invisible to the eye.

Sometimes the heart sees what's invisible to the eye.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?

Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The words 'far, far away' had always a strange charm.

The words 'far, far away' had always a strange charm.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Come friends, it's not too late to seek a newer world.

Come friends, it's not too late to seek a newer world.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Theirs not to reason why, 
Theirs but to do and die

Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The quiet sense of something lost

The quiet sense of something lost

Alfred Lord Tennyson
There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.

There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sweet is true love that is given in vain, and sweet is death that takes away pain.

Sweet is true love that is given in vain, and sweet is death that takes away pain.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
 Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
 The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I remain
Mistress of mine own self 
and mine own soul

I remain Mistress of mine own self and mine own soul

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I am half-sick of shadows,' said The Lady of Shalott.

I am half-sick of shadows,' said The Lady of Shalott.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The shell must break before the bird can fly.

The shell must break before the bird can fly.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The red rose cries,

The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
So runs my dream, but what am I?
An infant crying in the night
An infant crying for the light
And with no language but a cry.

So runs my dream, but what am I? An infant crying in the night An infant crying for the light And with no language but a cry.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
My purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset and the baths of all the Western stars until I die.

My purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset and the baths of all the Western stars until I die.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
O love, O fire! once he drew
With one long kiss my whole soul through
My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.

O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
For always roaming with a hungry heart.

For always roaming with a hungry heart.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
So sad, so fresh the days that are no more.

So sad, so fresh the days that are no more.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.

So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Life is brief but love is LONG .

Life is brief but love is LONG .

Alfred Lord Tennyson
For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within.

For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal the Soul within.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but on the mastery of his passions.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but on the mastery of his passions.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Forgive my grief for one removed
Thy creature whom I found so fair
I trust he lives in Thee and there
I find him worthier to be loved.

Forgive my grief for one removed Thy creature whom I found so fair I trust he lives in Thee and there I find him worthier to be loved.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
So I find every pleasant spot
 In which we two were wont to meet,
 The field, the chamber, and the street,
For all is dark where thou art not

So I find every pleasant spot In which we two were wont to meet, The field, the chamber, and the street, For all is dark where thou art not

Alfred Lord Tennyson
So now I have sworn to bury
All this dead body of hate
I feel so free and so clear
By the loss of that dead weight

So now I have sworn to bury All this dead body of hate I feel so free and so clear By the loss of that dead weight

Alfred Lord Tennyson
A man had given all other bliss,
And all his worldly worth for this
To waste his whole heart in one kiss
Upon her perfect lips.

A man had given all other bliss, And all his worldly worth for this To waste his whole heart in one kiss Upon her perfect lips.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.

Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
It is unconceivable that the whole Universe was merely created for us who live in this third-rate planet of a third-rate moon.

It is unconceivable that the whole Universe was merely created for us who live in this third-rate planet of a third-rate moon.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
If you don't concentrate on what you are doing then the thing that you are doing is not what you are thinking.

If you don't concentrate on what you are doing then the thing that you are doing is not what you are thinking.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.

For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I sometimes find it half a sin,
To put to words the grief i feel,
For words like nature,half reveal,
and half conceal the soul within,

I sometimes find it half a sin, To put to words the grief i feel, For words like nature,half reveal, and half conceal the soul within,

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The city is built
To music, therefore never built at all,
And therefore built forever.

The city is built To music, therefore never built at all, And therefore built forever.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.

I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Follow the deer? Follow the Christ the King. Live pure, speak true,right wrong, Follow the King-- Else, wherefore born?

Follow the deer? Follow the Christ the King. Live pure, speak true,right wrong, Follow the King-- Else, wherefore born?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is just to do or die.

Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is just to do or die.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Love is the only gold.

Love is the only gold.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Shall love be blamed for want of faith?

Shall love be blamed for want of faith?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The mirror crack'd from side to side

The mirror crack'd from side to side "The curse has come upon me," cried The Lady of Shalott

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.

I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

And this gray spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I hold it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.

I hold it truth, with him who sings To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,
Like coarsest clothes against the cold

In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er, Like coarsest clothes against the cold

Alfred Lord Tennyson
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
As tho’ to breathe were life!

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life!

Alfred Lord Tennyson
That which we are, we are.

That which we are, we are.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And ah for a man to arise in me,
That the man I am may cease to be!

And ah for a man to arise in me, That the man I am may cease to be!

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.

Music that gentlier on the spirit lies, Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Let the great world spin for ever down
the ringing grooves of change.

Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The year is dying in the night.

The year is dying in the night.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of: Wherefore, let thy voice,
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.

Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of: Wherefore, let thy voice, Rise like a fountain for me night and day.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Never, oh! never, nothing will die;
The stream flows,
The wind blows,
The cloud fleets,
The heart beats,
Nothing will die.

Never, oh! never, nothing will die; The stream flows, The wind blows, The cloud fleets, The heart beats, Nothing will die.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.

My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
For men may come and men may go, but I go on forever...

For men may come and men may go, but I go on forever...

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Virtue - to be good and just -
Every heart, when sifted well,
Is a clot of warmer dust,
Mix'd with cunning sparks of hell.

- The Vision of Sin

Virtue - to be good and just - Every heart, when sifted well, Is a clot of warmer dust, Mix'd with cunning sparks of hell. - The Vision of Sin

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink Life to the lees.

I cannot rest from travel; I will drink Life to the lees.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And what delights can equal those
That stir the spirit's inner deeps,
When one that loves but knows not, reaps
A truth from one that loves and knows?

And what delights can equal those That stir the spirit's inner deeps, When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
For this alone on Death I wreak
The wrath that garners in my heart:
He put our lives so far apart
We cannot hear each other speak.

For this alone on Death I wreak The wrath that garners in my heart: He put our lives so far apart We cannot hear each other speak.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million million of suns?

What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million million of suns?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I follow up the quest despite of day and night and death and hell.

I follow up the quest despite of day and night and death and hell.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be…
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be… And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.

And sometimes through the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And was the day of my delight
As pure and perfect as I say?

And was the day of my delight As pure and perfect as I say?

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Not once or twice in our fair island-story,
The path of duty was the way to glory.

Not once or twice in our fair island-story, The path of duty was the way to glory.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
A beam in darkness: let it grow.

A beam in darkness: let it grow.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The woods decay, the woods decay and fall...

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall...

Alfred Lord Tennyson
We needs must love the highest when we see it.

We needs must love the highest when we see it.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, 

But vaster.

Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, But vaster.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Who is wise in love, love most, say least.

Who is wise in love, love most, say least.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
She hath no loyal knight and true, The Lady of Shalott.

She hath no loyal knight and true, The Lady of Shalott.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
She left the web, she left the loom, 
She made three paces through the room

She left the web, she left the loom, She made three paces through the room

Alfred Lord Tennyson
But O for the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still!

But O for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Behold, we know not anything;
I can but trust that good shall fall
At last -- far off -- at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring.

Behold, we know not anything; I can but trust that good shall fall At last -- far off -- at last, to all, And every winter change to spring.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
She saw the snowy poles of moonless Mars, That marvellous round of milky light Below Orion, and those double stars Whereof the one more bright

Is circled by the other

She saw the snowy poles of moonless Mars, That marvellous round of milky light Below Orion, and those double stars Whereof the one more bright Is circled by the other

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Brothers in Art: a friendship so complete

Brothers in Art: a friendship so complete

Alfred Lord Tennyson
This madness has come on us for our sins.

This madness has come on us for our sins.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
And out of darkness came the hands that reach thro' nature, moulding men.

And out of darkness came the hands that reach thro' nature, moulding men.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Seal'd her minefrom her first sweet breath
Mine, and mine by right, from birth till death
Mine, mine-our fathers have sworn.

Seal'd her minefrom her first sweet breath Mine, and mine by right, from birth till death Mine, mine-our fathers have sworn.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
too full for sound or foam,
when that which drew from out
the boundless deep
turns again home.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound or foam, when that which drew from out the boundless deep turns again home.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The deep moans round with many voices.

The deep moans round with many voices.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
In the afternoon they came unto a land 
In which it seemed always afternoon. 
All around the coast the languid air did swoon, 
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.

In the afternoon they came unto a land In which it seemed always afternoon. All around the coast the languid air did swoon, Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
The old order changes, giving place to the new... least on good custom should corrupts the world.

The old order changes, giving place to the new... least on good custom should corrupts the world.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Yet I thought I saw her stand,
A shadow there at my feet,
High over the shadowy land.

Yet I thought I saw her stand, A shadow there at my feet, High over the shadowy land.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Maud in the light of her youth and her grace,
Singing of Death, and of Honor that cannot die,
Till I well could weep for a time so sordid and mean,
And myself so languid and base.

Maud in the light of her youth and her grace, Singing of Death, and of Honor that cannot die, Till I well could weep for a time so sordid and mean, And myself so languid and base.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
I fain would follow love, if that could be;
 I needs must follow death, who calls for me;
 Call and I follow, I follow! let me die.

I fain would follow love, if that could be; I needs must follow death, who calls for me; Call and I follow, I follow! let me die.

Alfred Lord Tennyson
May make my heart as a milestone, set my face as a flint, cheat and be cheated, and die: who knows? we are ashes and dust.

May make my heart as a milestone, set my face as a flint, cheat and be cheated, and die: who knows? we are ashes and dust.

Alfred Lord Tennyson