Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Pen
Art thou a pen, whose task shall be To drown in ink What writers think? Oh, wisely write, That pages white Be not the worse for ink and thee. Ethel Lynn BeersThe Gold Nugget.
Hinc quam sit calamus sævior euse, patet. From this it appears how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword. BurtonAnatomy of Melancholy. Pt. I. Sec. XXI. Mem. 4. Subsec. 4.
Oh! natures noblest giftmy gray-goose quill! Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will, Torn from thy parent-bird to form a pen, That mighty instrument of little men! ByronEnglish Bards and Scotch Reviewers. L. 7.
The pen wherewith thou dost so heavenly sing Made of a quill from an angels wing. Henry ConstableSonnet. Found in Notes to Todds Milton. Vol. V. P. 454. (Ed. 1826.)
Anser, apie, vitellus, populus et regna gubernant. Goose [pen] bee [wax] and calf [parchment] govern the world. Quoted by James Howell. Letters. Bk. II. Letter 2.
The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun: Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done. MartialEpigrams. Bk. XIV. Ep. 208. Trans. by Wright. (On a shorthand writer.)
Non sest aliena res, quæ fere ab honestis negligi solet, cura bene ac velociter scribendi. Men of quality are in the wrong to undervalue, as they often do, the practise of a fair and quick hand in writing; for it is no immaterial accomplishment. QuintilianDe Institutione Oratorio. I. 5.
Quon me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, jy trouverai de quoi le faire pendre. If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. Attributed to Richelieu by FournierLEsprit dans lHistoire. Ch. XLI. P. 255. (1883).
Tant la plume a eu sous le roi davantage sur lépée. So far had the pen, under the king, the superiority over the sword. Saint SimonMémoires. Vol. III. P. 517. (1702). (Ed. 1856).
You write with ease, to show your breeding, But easy writings curst hard reading. R. B. SheridanClios Protest. See Moores Life of Sheridan. Vol. I. P. 55.
The feather, whence the pen Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men, Dropped from an Angels wing. WordsworthEcclesiastical Sonnets. Pt. III. V. Waltons Book of Lives.