A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
- Life
- 1809-1894
- Occupations
- physician, poet, physician writer
- Notable works
- The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Ode for Washington’s Birthday, Angel of Peace
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: 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 Sr.
I found this great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Old age is fifteen years older than I am.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.