108 Quotes & Sayings By Lord Byron

Lord Byron was born on 24 January 1788 in a town near London. His parents had a respectable middle class family, but his father died suddenly when Byron was only six months old and he was sent to live with relatives in Wales. His mother had a bad marriage with a man who beat her. She was a very religious woman who tried to raise her children as Christians. At the age of five, Byron's mother sent him to Aberdeen to live with his uncle, Dr William Pollexfen, a physician Read more

William Pollexfen was well respected by the community and quite wealthy, but he could not protect the boy from the cruelty of local people. He also wanted Byron removed from his mother's life so he sent him to live with his sister, Phillida, who was married to Edward Noel Byron. Byron spent five years there during which time he received little education and got into fights because of his bad behavior. In 1804, Byron's sister died giving birth to their first child, Augusta Ada Byron (later Raine).

The baby girl died within hours of her birth leaving William Pollexfen heartbroken and deeply in debt for this loss. He suggested that the boy should be sent to Harrow School which would help him gain discipline and bring out his best qualities. His stepfather agreed and sent him away to school at the age of 12.

He hated it there very much and was eventually expelled after attacking another boy. Soon afterwards he ran away from school but was soon captured by the police after being found wandering around London alone. He was sent back home where he stayed at first under constant supervision before leaving again at fourteen for good this time after serious damage was done by his stepfather's drunken rages. He then became an apprentice at an antique shop owned by Mr Norton where he made good money making copies of old books using the techniques of engraving. Byron wrote many poems during this period which mostly reflected his own experiences including "The Prisoner" which describes his own feelings about being sent to Harrow School: "'Tis not for me alone thy pity claim; For all who round thy parent's hearth are placed; And freedom comes too late for many a Slave; Too late for some! The Tyrant's brand is still on them!" The poem "The Prisoner" has been described as one of the finest poems ever written about child slavery or child soldiers fighting in war.

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1
When Bishop Berkeley said "there was no matter " And proved it - 'twas no matter what he said. Lord Byron
2
She walks in beauty like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. Lord Byron
3
Society is now one polished horde Formed of two mighty tribes the Bores and Bored. Lord Byron
4
I am not now That which I have been. Lord Byron
5
A little curly-headed good-for-nothing And mischief-making monkey from his birth. Lord Byron
6
Christians have burned each other quite persuaded That all the apostles would have done as they did. Lord Byron
7
He who surpasses or subdues mankind must look down on the hate of those below. Lord Byron
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Nor ear can hear nor tongue can tell The tortures of that inward hell! Lord Byron
9
Hereditary boundsmen! Know ye not Who would be free themselves must strike the blow? Lord Byron
10
On with the dance! Let joy be unconfin'd No sleep till morn when Youth and Pleasure meet. Lord Byron
11
Death so called is a thing which makes men weep And yet a third of life is pass'd in sleep. Lord Byron
12
Though I love my country I do not love my countrymen. Lord Byron
13
Let us have Wine and Women Mirth and Laughter Sermons and soda-water the day after. Lord Byron
14
I awoke one morning and found myself famous. Lord Byron
15
Fare thee well! and if for ever Still for ever fare thee well. Lord Byron
16
Let us have wine and woman mirth and laughter. Sermons and soda-water the day after. Lord Byron
17
Friendship is Love without his wings! Lord Byron
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Friendship is love without his wings! Lord Byron
19
Fair Greece! sad relic of departed worth! Immortal though no more though fallen great! Lord Byron
20
All who would win joy must share it happiness was born a twin. Lord Byron
21
Maid of Athens ere we part Give oh give me back my heart! Lord Byron
22
Nor ear can hear nor tongue can tell The tortures of that inward hell. Lord Byron
23
History is the devil's scripture. Lord Byron
24
Admire exult despise laugh weep - for here There is such matter for all feelings: - Man! Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear. Lord Byron
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Come lay thy head upon my breast And I will kiss thee into rest. Lord Byron
26
A long long kiss a kiss of youth and love. Lord Byron
27
When we think we lead we most are led. Lord Byron
28
I am never long even in the society of her I love without yearning for the company of my lamp and my library. Lord Byron
29
A mighty mass of brick and smoke and shipping Dirty and dusty but as wide as eye Could reach with here and there a sail just skipping In sight then lost amidst the forestry Of masts a wilderness of steeples peeping On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy A huge dun cupola like a fools-cap crown On a fool's head - and there is London Town. Lord Byron
30
Man's love is of man's life a thing apart 'Tis woman's whole existence. Lord Byron
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And after all what is a lie? Tis but The truth in masquerade. Lord Byron
32
Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear. Lord Byron
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He was the mildest manner'd man That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat. Lord Byron
34
Soprano basso even the contralto Wished him five fathom under the Rialto. Lord Byron
35
I love not man the less but nature more. Lord Byron
36
For the night Shows stars and women in a better light. Lord Byron
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It is the hour when from the boughs The nightingale's high note is heard It is the hour when lovers' vows Seem sweet in every whisper'd word. Lord Byron
38
The great art of life is sensation to feel that we exist even in pain. Lord Byron
39
She walks in beauty Like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes. Lord Byron
40
Gone - glimmering through the dream of things that were. Lord Byron
41
'Tis very certain the desire of life prolongs it. Lord Byron
42
Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away. Lord Byron
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Smiles form the channels of a future tear. Lord Byron
44
Society is now one polished horde Formed of two mighty tribes The Bores and the Bored. Lord Byron
45
If from Society we learn to live Tis Solitude should teach us how to die It hath no flatterers. Lord Byron
46
In solitude when we are least alone. Lord Byron
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The busy have no time for tears. Lord Byron
48
His speech was a fine sample on the whole Of rhetoric which the learn'd call "rigmarole." Lord Byron
49
A schoolboy's tale the wonder of an hour. Lord Byron
50
The "good old times"-all times when old are good. Lord Byron
51
The past is the best prophet of the future. Lord Byron
52
Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean - roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain Man marks the earth with ruin - his control Stops with the shore. Lord Byron
53
The power of Thought - the magic of the Mind! Lord Byron
54
Here's a sigh to those who love me And a smile to those who hate And whatever sky's above me Here's a heart for every fate. Lord Byron
55
'Tis strange - but true for truth is always strange Stranger than fiction. Lord Byron
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Tis sweet to hear the watchdog's honest bark Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home. Lord Byron
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Think you if Laura had been Petrarch's wife He would have written sonnets all his life? Lord Byron
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Few things surpass old wine and they may preach Who please the more because they preach in vain - Let us have wine and women mirth and laughter Sermons and soda-water the day after. Lord Byron
59
In her first passion woman loves her lover In all the others all she loves is love. Lord Byron
60
A schoolboy's tale the wonder of an hour! Lord Byron
61
There is a tide in the affairs of women Which taken at the flood leads - God knows where. Lord Byron
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Tis enough - Who listens once will listen twice Her heart be sure is not of ice And one refusal no rebuff. Lord Byron
63
Letter-writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company. Lord Byron
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I have not loved the world nor the world me I have not flatter'd its rank breath nor bow'd To its idolatries a patient knee. Lord Byron
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Adversity is the first path to truth. Lord Byron
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What deep wounds ever closed without a scar? The hearts bleed longest and but heal to wear That which disfigures it. Lord Byron
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Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy! Lord Byron
68
If we must have a tyrant, let him at least be a gentleman who has been bred to the business, and let us fall by the axe and not by the butcher's cleaver. Lord Byron
69
Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey. Lord Byron
70
There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. Lord Byron
71
Friendship may, and often does, grow into love, but love never subsides into friendship. Lord Byron
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I have great hopes that we shall love each other all our lives as much as if we had never married at all. Lord Byron
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Absence - that common cure of love. Lord Byron
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Who loves, raves. Lord Byron
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Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven! Lord Byron
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Fame is the thirst of youth. Lord Byron
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I love not man the less, but Nature more. Lord Byron
78
The heart will break, but broken live on. Lord Byron
79
This is the patent age of new inventions for killing bodies, and for saving souls. All propagated with the best intentions. Lord Byron
80
I am about to be married, and am of course in all the misery of a man in pursuit of happiness. Lord Byron
81
All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a Twin. Lord Byron
82
A man of eighty has outlived probably three new schools of painting, two of architecture and poetry and a hundred in dress. Lord Byron
83
A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands. Lord Byron
84
There's naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms as rum and true religion. Lord Byron
85
Women hate everything which strips off the tinsel of sentiment, and they are right, or it would rob them of their weapons. Lord Byron
86
Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication. Lord Byron
87
The 'good old times' - all times when old are good. Lord Byron
88
Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life. Lord Byron
89
Truth is always strange, stranger than fiction. Lord Byron
90
Opinions are made to be changed - or how is truth to be got at? Lord Byron
91
For truth is always strange stranger than fiction. Lord Byron
92
The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain. Lord Byron
93
What should I have known or written had I been a quiet, mercantile politician or a lord in waiting? A man must travel, and turmoil, or there is no existence. Lord Byron
94
The dew of compassion is a tear. Lord Byron
95
For what were all these country patriots born? To hunt, and vote, and raise the price of corn? Lord Byron
96
We are all selfish and I no more trust myself than others with a good motive. Lord Byron
97
Lovers may be - and indeed generally are - enemies, but they never can be friends, because there must always be a spice of jealousy and a something of Self in all their speculations. Lord Byron
98
I have no consistency, except in politics; and that probably arises from my indifference to the subject altogether. Lord Byron
99
Man is born passionate of body, but with an innate though secret tendency to the love of Good in his main-spring of Mind. But God help us all! It is at present a sad jar of atoms. Lord Byron
100
If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom. Lord Byron