Oliver Wendell Holmes Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Oliver Wendell Holmes quotes, Oliver Wendell Holmes sayings, and Oliver Wendell Holmes proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

Fresh air is good if you do not take too much of it; most of the achievements and pleasures of life are in bad air. Oliver Wendell Holmes
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention. Oliver Wendell Holmes
The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer. Oliver Wendell Holmes
But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Memory is a net: one finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook, but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Leverage is everything-don't begin to pry until you've got the long arm on your side. Oliver Wendell Holmes
I credit my youthfulness at eighty to the fact of a cheerful disposition and contentment in every period of my life with what I was. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Oliver Wendell Holmes
But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold. Oliver Wendell Holmes
June comes in with roses in her / hand, but very often with a thick / shawl on her shoulders, and a bad / cold in her head. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Too young for love? / Ah, say not so, / While daisies bloom and tulips glow! / June soon will come with lengthened day / To practise all love learned in May. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Men do not quit playing because they grow old—they grow old because they quit playing. Oliver Wendell Holmes
To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift nor lie at anchor. Oliver Wendell Holmes
There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles that make wrinkles and not dimples. Oliver Wendell Holmes
A man of very moderate ability may be a good physician, if he devotes himself faithfully to the work. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Don't you stay at home of evenings? Don you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet? Oliver Wendell Holmes
Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness. Oliver Wendell Holmes
To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it — but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Pretty much all the honest truth telling there is in the world is done by children. Oliver Wendell Holmes
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes
The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it with the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Beware how you take away hope from any human being. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each friend. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke. Oliver Wendell Holmes
History has to be rewritten because history is the selection of those threads of causes or antecedents that we are interested in. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Certainly generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Old age is like an opium-dream. Nothing seems real except what is unreal. Oliver Wendell Holmes
October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception. Oliver Wendell Holmes