Swiftness Quotes

• War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.

  J. R. R. Tolkien

  War, Arrows, Towers

  J.R.R. Tolkien (2012). “The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings”, p.656, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  93 Copy quote

  Show source

• Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down with incredible swiftness.

  Faith Baldwin

  Character, Reputation, Incredibles

  17 Copy quote

• Swift justice demands more than just swiftness.

  Potter Stewart

  Justice, Demand

  23 Copy quote

• I arise today
  Through the strength of heaven:
  Light of sun
  Brilliance of moon
  Splendor of fire
  Speed of lightning
  Swiftness of wind
  Depth of sea
  Stability of earth
  Firmness of rock.

  Saint Patrick

  Nature, Moon, Fire

  "Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century". Book by Bernard McGinn, Jean Leclercq, John Meyendorff, 1986.

  131 Copy quote

  Show source

• Swift as the wind. Quiet as the forest. Conquer like the fire. Steady as the mountain

  Sun Tzu

  Art, War, Fire

  96 Copy quote

• Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.

  Henry Van Dyke

  Love, Life, Romantic

  Henry Van Dyke, “Time Is”

  76 Copy quote

  Show source

• Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.

  William Shakespeare

  Revenge, Anger, Enemy

  'Henry VIII' (1613) act 1, sc. 1, l. 140

  24 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sleep and death, two twins of winged race,
  Of matchless swiftness, but of silent pace.

  Alexander Pope

  Sleep, Race, Two

  Alexander Pope (1967). “The Iliad of Homer”, p.346, Lulu.com

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Jews are known for many things, but strength, swiftness, and agility are not among them. There is one trait, as controversial as it is familiar, for which Jews are above all known, and that is shrewdness in business.

  Steven Pinker

  Agility, Shrewdness, Controversial

  7 Copy quote

• To win a race, the swiftness of a dart Availeth not without a timely start

  Jean de La Fontaine

  Winning, Race, Timely

  Jean de la Fontaine (2014). “Illustrated Tales”, p.5, FV Éditions

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• We may outrun By violent swiftness And lose by over-running.

  William Shakespeare

  Running, Balance, May

  5 Copy quote

• The charms of the passing woman are generally in direct ratio to the swiftness of our passage.

  Marcel Proust

  Literature, Charm, Passing

  "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time".

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all.

  Faramir

  War, Towers, Lord Of The Ring

  "Fictional character: Faramir". 'The Two Towers' ('The Lord of the Rings'), Book by J. R. R. Tolkien, 1954.

  28 Copy quote

  Show source

• Here the free spirit of mankind, at length,
  Throws its last fetters off; and who shall place
  A limit to the giant's unchained strength,
  Or curb his swiftness in the forward race?

  William C. Bryant

  Strength, Freedom, Race

  William Cullen Bryant, “The Ages”

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• His golden locks Time hath to silver turned,
  O time too swift! O swiftness never ceasing!
  His youth 'gainst Time and Age hath ever spurned,
  But spurned in vain! Youth waneth by increasing.

  George Peele

  Time, Age, Locks

  'Polyhymnia' (1590) ad fin. 'Sonnet'

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• There are a lot of messages that need to be sent to the criminal who is out there dealing in this on the streets of the United States. We need to send the message of swiftness and certain punishment.

  Bill McCollum

  Punishment, Criminals, United States

  3 Copy quote

• Sin does not leap upon us fully armed. It steals in through a look, a swift, silent suggestion or imagination, but love and loyalty to Jesus will make you watchful and swift to rise up and cast out the subtle enemy. Do this and you shall live, and live victoriously.

  Samuel Logan Brengle

  Love, Christian, Loyalty

  Samuel Logan Brengle (1929). “Ancient Prophets: With a Series of Occasional Papers on Modern Problems”

  93 Copy quote

  Show source

• The poet should try to give his poem the quiet swiftness of flame, so that the reader will feel and not think while he is reading. But the thinking will come afterwards.

  Sara Teasdale

  Reading, Thinking, Flames

  0 Copy quote

• For the production of man a different apprenticeship [from forests] was needed to sharpen the wits and quicken the higher manifestations of intellect - a more open veldt country where competition was keener between swiftness and stealth, and where adroitness of thinking played a preponderating role in the preservation of the species.

  Raymond Dart

  Country, Men, Thinking

  10 Copy quote

• The sound of the freezing of snow over the land seemed to roar deep into the earth. There was no moon. The stars, almost too many of them to be true, came forward so brightly that it was as if they were falling with the swiftness of the void. As the stars came nearer, the sky retreated deeper and deeper into the night color. The layers of the Border Range, indistinguishable one from another, cast their heaviness at the skirt of the starry sky in a blackness grave and somber enough to communicate their mass. The whole of the night scene came together in a clear, tranquil harmony.

  Yasunari Kawabata

  Stars, Fall, Moon

  Yasunari Kawabata (2013). “Snow Country”, p.44, Vintage

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• The difference between a mongrel and a thoroughbred, whether brute or man, is not in swiftness, beauty, or endurance, but in courage.

  Austin O'Malley

  Men, Differences, Endurance

  8 Copy quote

• New sentient creatures filled the unseen depths, Life's glory and swiftness ran in the beauty of beasts.

  Sri Aurobindo

  Unseen, Depth, Beast

  Sri Aurobindo (1995). “Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol”, p.111, Lotus Press

  0 Copy quote

  Show source

• At Tara in this fateful hour, I place all Heaven with its power, And the sun with its brightness, And the snow with its whiteness, And the fire with all the strength it hath, And the lightning with its rapid wrath, And the winds with their swiftness along their path, And the sea with its deepness, And the rocks with their steepness, And the earth with its starkness: All these I place, By God's almighty help and grace Between myself and the powers of darkness!

  Madeleine L'Engle

  Fire, Wrath, Rocks

  FaceBook post by Madeleine L'Engle from Nov 14, 2015

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• And many kinds of creatures must have died,
  Unable to plant out new sprouts of life.
  For whatever you see that lives and breathes and thrives
  Has been, from the very beginning, guarded, saved
  By it's trickery for its swiftness or brute strength.
  And many have been entrusted to our care,
  Commended by their usefulness to us.
  For instance, strength supports a savage lion;
  Foxes rely on their cunning; deer their flight.

  Lucretius

  Life, Death, Science

  3 Copy quote

• When your weapons are dulled and ardour damped, your strength exhausted and treasure spent, neighboring rulers will take advantage of your distress to act. And even though you have wise counsellors, none will be able to lay good plans for the future. Thus, while we have heard of blundering swiftness in war, we have not yet seen a clever operation that was prolonged.

  Sun Tzu

  Wise, Clever, War

  7 Copy quote