Rudyard Kipling Quotes

I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards.

(An unhappy childhood was not) an unsuitable preparation for my future, in that it demanded a constant wariness, the habit of observation, and the attendance on moods and tempers; the noting of discrepancies between speech and action; a certain reserve of demeanour; and automatic suspicion of sudden favours.

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade.

We had a kettle; we let it leak:
Our not repairing made it worse.
We haven't had any tea for a week...
The bottom is out of the Universe.

You must learn to forgive a man when he's in love. He's always a nuisance.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie.

A DEAD STATESMAN
I could not dig: I dared not rob:
Therefore I lied to please the mob.
Now all my lies are proved untrue
And I must face the men I slew.
What tale shall serve me here among
Mine angry and defrauded young?
from EPITAPHS OF THE WAR 1914-18

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and woman to fill our day;
But when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers & Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

At two o'clock in the morning, if you open your window and listen,
You will hear the feet of the Wind that is going to call the sun.
And the trees in the Shadow rustle and the trees in the moonlight glisten,
And though it is deep, dark night, you feel that the night is done.

What is a woman that you forsake her
And the hearth fire and the home acre
To go with that old grey widow-maker?

To hear is one thing, to know is another.

Body and spirit, I surrendered whole, To harsh Instructors- and received a soul.

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.

One can't prescribe books, even the best books, to people unless one knows a good deal about each individual person. If a man is keen on reading, I think he ought to open his mind to some older man who knows him and his life, and to take his advice in the matter, and above all, to discuss with him the first books that interest him.

All kinds of magic are out of date and done away with, except in India, where nothing changes in spite of the shiny, top-scum stuff that people call 'civilization.

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.

We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble