Emily Dickinson

A charm invests a face Imperfectly beheld,— The lady dare not lift her veil For fear it be dispelled. But peers beyond her mesh, And wishes, and denies,— Lest interview annul a want That image satisfies.

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.

We both believe, and disbelieve a hundred times an hour, which keeps believing nimble.

Old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought.

After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The Nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs.

I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.

Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it.

Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent.

They might not need me; but they might. I'll let my head be just in sight; a smile as small as mine might be precisely their necessity.

I must go in, the fog is rising.

The possible's slow fuse is lit by the Imagination.

Love can do all but raise the Dead I doubt if even that From such a giant were withheld Were flesh equivalent But love is tired and must sleep, And hungry and must graze And so abets the shining Fleet Till it is out of gaze.

In such a porcelain life, one likes to be sure that all is well lest one stumble upon one's hopes in a pile of broken crockery.

Tell the truth, but tell it slant.

Faith is a fine invention When gentlemen can see, But microscopes are prudent In an emergency.

I never had a mother. I suppose a mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.

Memory is a strange Bell—Jubilee, and Knell.

I am growing handsome very fast indeed! I expect I shall be the belle of Amherst when I reach my 17th year. I don't doubt that I shall have perfect crowds of admirers at that age. Then how I shall delight to make them await my bidding, and with what delight shall I witness their suspense while I make my final decision.

Nature is our eldest mother; she will do no harm.

Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.

An ear can break a human heart As quickly as a spear, We wish the ear had not a heart So dangerously near.