“Dare to be honest and fear no labor. … Opera is where a man gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings.”

Mankind is a science that defies definitions.

When Nature her great masterpiece designed,And framed her last, best work, the human mind,Her eye intent on all the wondrous plan,She formed of various stuff the various Man.

The voice of Nature loudly cries,And many a message from the skies,That something in us never dies.

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft a-gley, And leave us nought but grief and pain, For promised joy.

Some rhyme a neebor’s name to lash; Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu’ cash; Some rhyme to court the countra clash, An’ raise a din; For me, an aim I never fash; I rhyme for fun.

There’s some are fou o’ love divine; There’s some are fou o’ brandy.

God knows, I’m no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be.

The golden hours on angel wings Flew o’er me and my dearie, For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary.

My Son, these maxims make a rule An lump them ay thegither: The Rigid Righteous is a fool, The Rigid Wise anither.

Beauty’s of a fading nature. Has a season and is gone!

Life is but a day at most.

The honest man, though e’er sae poor, Is king o’ men, for a’ that!

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.

The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o’ the morn.

When chill November’s surly blast Made fields and forests bare.

Now’s the day and now’s the hour.

Secrecy is for the happy,–misery, hopeless misery, needs no veil; under a thousand suns it dares act openly.

They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.

Tasteless is a life without your courage, for courage is the salt to your bread. So dare, dare to stare that monster in the eye, that fear that fiddles under your bed.

Dare to dream and watch your dreams dare.

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

I know that my works are a credit to this nation and I dare say they will endure longer than the McCarran Act.

If I’m sharing you with myself, I’m daring to share your thirst for warmth, your body and soul, even your mistakes gone wrong.

We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.