113 Famous Quotes by Robert Burns
1/25/1759 - 7/21/1796
Also Known As:
Rabbie Burns
Ploughman Poet
The Bard
Professions:
Information:
About Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem "Auld Lang Syne" is often sung at Hogmanay, and "Scots Wha Hae" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well known across the world today include "A Red, Red Rose"; "A Man's A Man for A' That"; "To a Louse"; "To a Mouse"; "The Battle of Sherramuir"; "Tam o' Shanter"; and "Ae Fond Kiss".
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Man,--whose heaven-erected face
The smiles of love adorn,--
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!
Man
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Man Was Made to Mourn
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Now Nature hangs her mantle green
On every blooming tree,
And spreads her sheets o' daisies white
Out o'er the grassy lea.
Spring
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Lament of Mary Queen of Scots
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Even thou who mournst the daisy's fate,
That fate is thine--no distant date;
Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives, elate,
Full on thy bloom,
Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight
Shall be thy doom!
Daisies
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: To a Mountain Daisy
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Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious.
Victory
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Tam o' Shanter
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O wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel's as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us.
And foolish notion;
What airs in dress and gait wad lea'e us,
And ev'n devotion!
Proverbs
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: To a Louse
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I waive the quantum o' the sin,
The hazard of concealing:
But, och! it hardens a' within,
And petrifies the feeling!
Sin
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Epistle to a Young Friend
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The wide world is all before us--
But a world without a friend.
World
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Strathallan's Lament
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I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence.
Quotations
Quotes, by Robert Burns
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Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;
Though they may gang a' kennin' wrang
To step aside is human.
Proverbs
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Address to Unco Guid
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Inspiring bold John Barleycorn,
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;
Wi' usquebae, we'll face the devil!
Proverbs
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Tam o' Shanter (l. 105)
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Were such the wife had fallen to my part,
I'd break her spirit, or I'd break her heart.
Wives
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Henpecked Husband
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She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a bonny wee thing,
This sweet wee wife o' mine.
Wives
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing
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Duncan Gray cam here to woo,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't!
On blithe Yuletide when we were fou,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't!
Maggie coost her head fu' high,
Looked asklent and unco skeigh,
Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh:
Ha, ha! the wooing o't!
Wooing
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Duncan Gray
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The landlady and Tam grew gracious
Wi' favours secret, sweet and precious.
Wooing
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Tam o'Shanter (st. 7)
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And let us mind, faint heart ne'er wan
A lady fair.
Wha does the utmost that he can
Will whyles do mair.
Wooing
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: To Dr. Blackjack
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Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne?
Friendship
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: Auld Lang Syne, Burns refers to these words as an old folk song
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I'll pu' the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view,
For its like a baumy kiss o'er her sweet bonnie mou'!
Roses
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: The Posie
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Yon rose-buds in the morning-dew,
How pure amang the leaves sae green!
Roses
Quotes, by Robert Burns , Source: To Chloris
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