Quote#Truth
And long we try in vain to speak and act
Quote byMatthew Arnold · 1822–1888
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "The Buried Life", st. 6 (1852).
English (original)
And long we try in vain to speak and act Our hidden self, and what we say and do Is eloquent, is well — but ’tis not true!
— Matthew Arnold
More from Matthew Arnold
A God, a God their severance ruled! And bade betwixt their shores to be The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea.
Yes: in the sea of life enisl’d, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone.
Calm soul of all things! make it mine To feel, amid the city’s jar, That there abides a peace of thine, Man did not make, and cannot mar.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire that in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; — But tasks, in hours of insight willed, Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
I keep saying, Shakspeare, Shakspeare, you are as obscure as life is.
With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day and wish’t were done. Not till the hours of light return All we have built do we discern.