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