11 Quotes & Sayings By Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) was a major American poet, novelist, short story writer, and memoirist. He is the author of the book Cane (1953), which was adapted into a film in 1974, and Into the Wilderness (1940), which was adapted into two films, one in 1948 and one in 1966. He was also one of the founders of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Taller of Popular Graphics), which became one of the most famous places for artistic experimentation in Mexican history.

To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,...
1
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire-- It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid. Edgar Lee Masters
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My name used to be in the papers daily As having dined somewhere, Or traveled somewhere, Or rented a house in Paris, Where I entertained the nobility. I was forever eating or traveling, Or taking the cure at Baden-Baden.Now I am here to do honor To Spoon River, here beside the family whence I sprang. No one cares now where I dined, Or lived, or whom I entertained, Or how often I took the cure at Baden-Baden! . Edgar Lee Masters
Rather a thousand times the county jail than to lie...
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Rather a thousand times the county jail than to lie under this marble figure with wings and this granite pedestal bearing the words "pro patria." What do they mean anyway? Edgar Lee Masters
O world, that's you! You are but a widened place...
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O world, that's you! You are but a widened place in the river Where Life looks down and we rejoice for her Mirrored in us, and so we dream And turn away Edgar Lee Masters
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In time you shall see Fate approach you In the shape of your own image in the mirror. Edgar Lee Masters
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I have studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me– A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid; Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail And catch the winds of destiny Wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire– It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid. Edgar Lee Masters
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And I never started to plow in my life That some one did not stop in the road And take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddle– And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, And not a single regret. Edgar Lee Masters
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The much-sought prize of eternal youth Is just arrested growth. Edgar Lee Masters
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Reckless of my mortality, Strengthen me to behold a face, To know the spirit of a beloved one Yet to endure, yet to dare! Edgar Lee Masters
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Act well your part, there all the honor lies. Edgar Lee Masters