1830-1867, Scottish Poet, Author
A man gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles in the road.
Alexander Smith – [Ideals and Idealism]
A man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor.
Alexander Smith – [Memory]
Every man's road in life is marked by the grave of his personal likings.
Alexander Smith – [Desire]
Everything is sweetened by risk.
Alexander Smith – [Risk]
I go into my library, and all history unrolls before me. I breathe the morning air of the world while the scent of Eden's roses yet lingered in it, while it vibrated only to the world's first brood of nightingales, and to the laugh of Eve. I see the pyramids building; I hear the shoutings of the armies of Alexander.
Alexander Smith – [Libraries]
I would rather be remembered by a song than by a victory.
Alexander Smith – [Song and Singing]
If the egotist is weak, his egotism is worthless. If the egotist is strong, acute, full of distinctive character, his egotism is precious, and remains a possession of the race.
Alexander Smith – [Egotism]
If you wish to make a man look noble, your best course is to kill him. What superiority he may have inherited from his race, what superiority nature may have personally gifted him with, comes out in death.
Alexander Smith – [Assassination]
If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness.
Alexander Smith – [Secrets]
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
Alexander Smith – [Love]
The sea complains upon a thousand shores.
Alexander Smith – [Oceans]
To be occasionally quoted is the only fame I care for.
Alexander Smith – [Quotations]
We are never happy; we can only remember that we were so once.
Alexander Smith – [Happiness]