Edward Lear Quotes

• There was an old man with a beard, who said: 'It is just as I feared! Two owls and a hen, four larks and a wren have all built their nests in my beard.

  Edward Lear

  Men, Two, Justice

  A Book of Nonsense (1846)

  89 Copy quote

• It takes a long time to make a painter - even with a good artist's education - but without one it tries the patience of Job; it is a great thing if one does not go backward.

  Edward Lear

  Jobs, Artist, Long

  30 Copy quote

• It's a fact the whole world knows,
  That Pobbles are happier without their toes.

  Edward Lear

  Toes, Facts, World

  Edward Lear, Edward Mendelson, Laura Huliska-Beith (2001). “Edward Lear”, p.31, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.

  34 Copy quote

• The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat: They took some honey, and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note. . . They dined on mince and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon.

  Edward Lear

  Beautiful, Moon, Light

  "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" l. 21 (1871)

  24 Copy quote

• I am in a very unsettled condition, as the oyster said when they poured melted butter all over his back.

  Edward Lear

  Oysters, Said, Conditions

  Edward Lear (2001). “The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense”, Lane, Allen

  24 Copy quote

• A vile beastly rottenheaded foolbegotten brazenthroated pernicous piggish screaming, tearing, roaring, perplexing, splitmecrackle crashmecriggle insane ass of a woman is practising howling below-stairs with a brute of a singingmaster so horribly, that my head is nearly off.

  Edward Lear

  Music, Insane, Roaring

  Edward Lear (1992). “A Book of Learned Nonsense”, Sutton Pub Limited

  34 Copy quote

• I am almost thanking God that I was never educated, for it seems to me that 999 of those who are so, expensively and laboriously, have lost all before they arrive at my age-& remain like Swift's Stulbruggs-cut and dry for life, making no use of their earlier-gained treasures:-whereas, I seem to be on the threshold of knowledge.

  Edward Lear

  Knowledge, Science, Cutting

  L. Candace Pezzera, Edward Lear, Rhode Island School of Design. Museum of Art (1982). “How pleasant to know Mr. Lear: watercolors by Edward Lear from Rhode Island collections”

  32 Copy quote

• They danced by the light of the moon.

  Edward Lear

  Dance, Moon, Light

  "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" l. 21 (1871)

  30 Copy quote

• They went to sea in a sieve, they did; In a sieve they went to sea; In spite of all their friends could say.

  Edward Lear

  Friendship, Sea, Spite

  1871 Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets,'The Jumblies'.

  19 Copy quote

• And what can we expect if we haven't any dinner, But to lose our teeth and eyelashes and keep on growing thinner?

  Edward Lear

  Eyelashes, Teeth, Growing

  'The Two Old Bachelors' (1871)

  18 Copy quote

• There was an Old Person of Brussels, Who lived upon Brandy and Mussels; When he rushed through the town, he knocked most people down, Which distressed all the people of Brussels.

  Edward Lear

  People, Alcohol, Towns

  Edward Lear (2001). “The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense”, Lane, Allen

  23 Copy quote

• They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon.

  Edward Lear

  Dance, Food, Moon

  "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" l. 21 (1871)

  16 Copy quote

• There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To the perfect delight of Messina.

  Edward Lear

  Daughter, Men, Pigs

  Edward Lear (2012). “Nonsense Poems”, p.16, Courier Corporation

  20 Copy quote

• In the middle of the woods Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Two old chairs and half a candle, One old jug without a handle- These were all the worldly goods.

  Edward Lear

  Life, Two, Jugs

  'The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó' (1871)

  17 Copy quote

• Who, or why, or which, or what, Is the Akhond of Swat?

  Edward Lear

  News

  Edward Lear, “The Akond Of Swat”

  10 Copy quote

• When awful darkness and silence reign Over the great Gromboolian plain, Through the long, long wintry nights.

  Edward Lear

  Night, Long, Silence

  'The Dong with a Luminous Nose' (1871)

  10 Copy quote

• There was an old man of Orleans, Who was given to eating of beans; Till once out of sport, he swallowed a quart, That dyspeptic old man of Orleans.

  Edward Lear

  Sports, Men, Vegetables

  Edward Lear (1992). “A Book of Learned Nonsense”, Sutton Pub Limited

  13 Copy quote

• And they brought an Owl, and a useful Cart, And a pound of Rice, and a CranberryTart, And a hive of silvery Bees. And they brought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws, And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws, and forty Bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree, And no end of Stilton Cheese.

  Edward Lear

  Pigs, Lovely, Owl

  'The Jumblies' (1871)

  6 Copy quote

• There was an Old Person of Bray, Who sang through the whole of the day To his ducks and his pigs, whom he fed upon figs, That valuable Person of Bray.

  Edward Lear

  Pigs, Ducks, Figs

  Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear (2004). “Utter Nonsense: Selected Poems of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear”, p.29, Lonely Scribe

  7 Copy quote

• And if you voz to see my roziz As is a boon to all men's noziz, - You'd fall upon your back and scream - '" Lawk! O criky! it's a dream!"

  Edward Lear

  Dream, Fall, Men

  Edward Lear (1911). “Later Letters of Edward Lear: to Chichester Fortescue (Lord Carlingford), Lady Waldegrave and Others”, Books for Libraries

  9 Copy quote

• I was much distressed by next door people who had twin babies & played the violin: but one of the twins died, & the other has eaten the fiddle — so all is peace.

  Edward Lear

  Baby, Doors, People

  "Letters of Edward Lear: To Chichester Fortescue, Lord Carlingford, and Frances Countess Waldegrave".

  11 Copy quote

• What will happen to me, as the oyster said when he very inadvertently swallowed the gooseberry bush, nobody can tell.

  Edward Lear

  Oysters, Said, Happens

  Edward Lear (2001). “The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense”, Lane, Allen

  7 Copy quote

• There was a Young Person in pink, Who called out for something to drink; But they said, 'O my daughter, there's nothing but water!' Which vexed that Young Person in pink.

  Edward Lear

  Daughter, Water, Drink

  Edward Lear (1994). “Complete Nonsense”, p.98, Wordsworth Editions

  10 Copy quote

• There was a Young Lady of Poole, Whose soup was excessively cool; So she put it to boil, by the aid of some oil, That ingenious Young Lady of Poole.

  Edward Lear

  Food, Oil, Soup

  Edward Lear (1994). “Complete Nonsense”, p.133, Wordsworth Editions

  9 Copy quote

• There was an Old Man of the East, Who gave all his children a feast; But they all ate so much, and their conduct was such, That it killed that Old Man of the East.

  Edward Lear

  Children, Men, East

  Edward Lear (1994). “Complete Nonsense”, p.59, Wordsworth Editions

  4 Copy quote

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