Eugene Field Quotes

Eugene Field shares playful, lyrical verses about animals, nature, and simple joys.

37 quotes

1. I feel a sort of yearnin' 'nd a chokin' in my throat When I think of Red Hoss Mountain 'nd of Casey's tabble dote!

2. He could whip his weight in wildcats.

3. The best of all physicians Is apple pie and cheese!

4. It always was the biggest fish I caught that got away.

5. When I demanded of my friend what viands he preferred, He quoth: 'A large cold bottle, and a small hot bird!'

6. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night Sailed off in a wooden shoe- Sailed on a river of crystal light, Into a sea of dew.

7. The little toy dog is covered with dust, But sturdy and stanch he stands; And the little toy soldier is red with rust, And his musket moulds in his hands. Time was when the little toy dog was new, And the soldier was passing fair; And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue Kissed them and put them there.

8. The gingham dog went 'Bow-wow-wow!' And the calico cat replied 'Mee-ow!' The air was littered, an hour or so, With bits of gingham and calico.

9. Father calls me William, sister calls me Will, Mother calls me Willie, but the fellers call me Bill! Mighty glad I ain't a girl-ruther be a boy, Without them sashes, curls, an' things that 's worn by Fauntleroy! Love to chawnk green apples an' go swimmin' in the lake- Hate to take the castor-ile they give for bellyache! 'Most all the time, the whole year round, there ain't no flies on me, But jest 'fore Christmas I'm as good as I kin be!

10. He played the King as though under momentary apprehension that someone else was about to play the ace.

11. Ideas came with explosive immediacy, like an instant birth. Human thought is like a monstrous pendulum; it keeps swinging from one extreme to the other.

12. A little peach in an orchard grew,- A little peach of emerald hue; Warmed by the sun and wet by the dew It grew.

13. We twain Discussed with buoyant hearts The various things that appertain To bibliomaniac arts.

14. The fire upon the hearth is low, And there is stillness everywhere, And, like winged spirits, here and there The firelight shadows fluttering go.

15. A mighty good sausage stuffer was spoiled when the man became a poet.

16. No book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over.

17. I'd like a stocking made for a giant, And a meeting house full of toys, Then I'd go out in a happy hunt For the poor little girls and boys; Up the street and down the street, And across and over the town, I'd search and find them everyone, Before the sun went down.

18. All good and true book-lovers practice the pleasing and improving avocation of reading in bed ... No book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over.

19. There is a glorious candor in an honest quart of wine, A certain inspitation which I cannot well define.

20. Mr. Clarke played the King all evening as though under constant fear that someone else was about to play the Ace.

21. How gracious those dews of solace that over my senses fall At the clink of the ice in the pitcher the boy brings up the hall.

22. Let my temptation be a book, which I shall purchase, hold and keep.

23. But I, when I undress me Each night, upon my knees Will ask the Lord to bless me With apple-pie and cheese.

24. Used to think that luck wuz luck and nuthin' else but luck-- It made no diff'rence how or when or where or why it struck; But sev'ral years ago I changt my mind, an' now proclaim That luck's a kind uv science--same as any other game.

25. But he who truly loves books loves all books alike, and not only this, but it grieves him that all other men do not share with him this noble passion. Verily, this is the most unselfish of loves!

26. The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.

27. Not so, however, with books, for books cannot change. A thousand years hence they are what you find them to-day, speaking the same words, holding forth the same cheer, the same promise, the same comfort; always constant, laughing with those who laugh and weeping with those who weep.

28. Have you an unexpurgated copy of Hannah More's 'Letters to a Village Maiden'?

29. Books do actually consume air and exhale perfumes.

30. What smells so? Has somebody been burning a Rag, or is there a Dead Mule in the Back yard? No, the Man is Smoking a Five-Cent Cigar.

31. Here we have a baby. It is composed of a bald head and a pair of lungs.

32. Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod, one night sailed off in a wooden shoe; Sailed off on a river of crystal light into a sea of dew. "Where are you going and what do you wish?" the old moon asked the three. "We've come to fish for the herring fish that live in this beautiful sea. Nets of silver and gold have we," said Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.

33. Some statesmen go to Congress and some go to jail. It is the same thing, after all.

34. He is so mean, he won't let his little baby have more than one measle at a time.

35. Let my temptation be a book.

36. All human joys are swift of wing, For heaven doth so allot it; That when you get an easy thing, You find you haven't got it

37. “And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies Is a wee one's trundle-bed; So shut your eyes while Mother sings Of wonderful sights that be, And you shall see the beautiful things As you rock on the misty sea.”