No longer forward nor behind I look in hope or fear but grateful take the good I find the best of now and here.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

No longer forward nor behind I look in hope or fear But grateful take the good I find The best of now and here.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Of all sad words of tongue or pen the saddest are these: It might have been.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Our toil is sweet with thankfulness Our burden is our boon The curse of earth's gray morning is The blessing of its noon.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Peace hath higher tests of manhood, than battle ever knew.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Peace hath higher tests of manhood Than battle ever knew.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

Reason's voice and God's Nature's and Duty's never are at odds.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

"Shoot if you must this old gray head But spare your country's flag" she said.

— John Greenleaf Whittier

So all night long the storm roared on:The morning broke without a sun;In tiny spherule traced with lines Of Nature’s geometric signs, In starry flake, and follicle, All day the hoary meteor fell;And, when the second morning shone, We looked upon a world unknown, On nothing we could call our own. Around the glistening wonder bent The blue walls of the firmament, No cloud above, no earth below, —A universe of sky and snow!

— John Greenleaf Whittier