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

99 Top Quotes From Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Founder Of The Romantic Movement

Famous As: Poet
Born On: October 21, 1772
Died On: July 25, 1834
Born In: Ottery St Mary, Devon, Great Britain, United Kingdom
Founder / Co Founder: Romantic Movement in England
Died At Age: 61

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a distinguished English philosopher, literary critic and a poet known for his Lyrical Ballads. The pioneer of modern ‘Romantic’ literature, he’s known for his innovative verses and influential thinking. Actively preaching during the French Revolution, this recalcitrant pamphleteer reawakened progressive ideas of middle class men and inspired a new generation of writers like Emerson to develop outstanding meditative, speculative and oracular pieces. He was a constant companion of William Wordsworth, a founder of Romanticism and a well-known member of ‘Lake Poets’. His exemplary works include 8 poems like Kubla Khan, The Rime of Ancient Mariner, critical analysis of Shakespeare’s work and Biographia Literaria, the renowned prose. Coleridge, who coined a series of terminology like the ‘suspension of disbelief’ was the mastermind behind amalgamating English oration with German idealist philosophy. He inspired American transcendentalism during his younger years. Adulthood was harsh to Samuel, who lost his creative mind to bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety, ultimately developing rheumatic fever. It finally got him addicted to opium and he died at 61. His long poems and editorials are compiled under a collective series ‘The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’ available in 16 volumes. He inspired many by his thoughts and beliefs. We have excerpted his quotes from some of his writings, lectures and life. Here is a collection of some profound quotes by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Silence does not always mark wisdom.

Silence does not always mark wisdom.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Poetry: the best words in the best order.

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Sir, I admit your general rule, 
That every poet is a fool, 
But you yourself may serve to show it, 
That every fool is not a poet.

Sir, I admit your general rule, That every poet is a fool, But you yourself may serve to show it, That every fool is not a poet.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.

Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Our own heart, and not other men's opinions, forms our true honor.

Our own heart, and not other men's opinions, forms our true honor.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
 Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
 Who thicks man's blood with cold.

Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
He who is best prepared can best serve his moment of inspiration.

He who is best prepared can best serve his moment of inspiration.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Since then, at an uncertain hour, 
That agony returns: 
And till my ghastly tale is told, 
This heart within me burns.

Since then, at an uncertain hour, That agony returns: And till my ghastly tale is told, This heart within me burns.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.

The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
 Down to a sunless sea.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A great mind must be androgynous.

A great mind must be androgynous.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows, a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Nothing is as contagious as enthusiasm. It is the real allegory of the myth of Orpheus; it moves stones, and charms brutes. It is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no victories without it.

Nothing is as contagious as enthusiasm. It is the real allegory of the myth of Orpheus; it moves stones, and charms brutes. It is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no victories without it.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
No man was ever yet a great poet, without at the same time being a profound philosopher.

No man was ever yet a great poet, without at the same time being a profound philosopher.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear,
A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief,
Which finds no natural outlet or relief,
In word, or sigh, or tear.

A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear, A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief, Which finds no natural outlet or relief, In word, or sigh, or tear.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Alone, alone, all, all alone, 
Alone on a wide wide sea! 
And never a saint took pity on 
My soul in agony.

Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
No mind is thoroughly well-organized that is deficient in a sense of humor.

No mind is thoroughly well-organized that is deficient in a sense of humor.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance.

I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain.

Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Deep thinking is attainable only by a man of deep feeling, and all truth is a species of revelation

Deep thinking is attainable only by a man of deep feeling, and all truth is a species of revelation

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
What comes from the heart goes to the heart

What comes from the heart goes to the heart

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.

The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The fair breeze blew,
The white foam flew,
And the forrow followed free.
We were the first to ever burst into the silent sea.

The fair breeze blew, The white foam flew, And the forrow followed free. We were the first to ever burst into the silent sea.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.

Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Good and bad men are each less so than they seem.

Good and bad men are each less so than they seem.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge