Quotes by Carl Sandburg

“To work hard, to live hard, to die hard, and then go to hell after all would be too damn hard.”

“Life is like an onion; you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.”

“A man must find time for himself. Time is what we spend our lives with. If we are not careful we find others spending it for us. . . . It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself a...”

“Come clean with a child heartLaugh as peaches in the summer windLet rain on a house roof be a songLet the writing on your facebe a smell of apple orchards on late June.”

“A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.”

“There is a music for lonely hearts nearly always. If the music dies down there is a silence. Almost the same as the movement of music. To know silence perfectly is to know music.”

“A baby is God's opinion that life should go on. A book that does nothing to you is dead. A baby, whether it does anything to you, represents life. If a bad fire should break out in this house and I...”

“One of the great Confederate combat leaders, General John B. Gordon, had sat at his horse and spoken farewell to his men. Some he had seen weeping as they folded burnt and shot-pierced battle flags...”

“Tell no man anything, for no man listensYet hold thy lips ready to speak.”

“Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today.Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction.See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.”

“Poetry is an echo asking a shadow to dance.”

“Gather the stars if you wish it soGather the songs and keep them.Gather the faces of women.Gather for keeping years and years.And then...Loosen your hands, let go and say good-bye.Let the stars and...”

“Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.”

“I've written some poetry I don't understand myself”

“I'm either going to be a writer or a bum.”

“Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it runs by.”

“Look out how you use proud words.When you let proud words go, it is not easy to call them back.They wear long boots, hard boots; they walk off proud; they cant hear you calling -Look out how you us...”

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

“Nothing happens unless first a dream.”

“Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.”