Sam Walter Foss
American writer (1858–1911)
Sam Walter Foss (June 19, 1858 – February 26, 1911) was a librarian and poet whose works included The House by the Side of the Road and The Coming American.
Bring me men to match my plains,
Men with empires in their purpose,
And new eras in their brains.
~ "The Coming American" (July 4, 1894)
Quotes
edit- Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men to match my plains,
Men with empires in their purpose,
And new eras in their brains.- "The Coming American" (July 4, 1894), reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- We felt the universe wuz safe, an' God wuz on his throne.
- The volunteer Organist, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- The sweet mellifluous milking of the cow.
- The Milking of the Cow, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- He had a startling genius, but somehow it did n't emerge;
Always on the evolution of things that would n't evolve;
Always verging toward some climax, but he never reached the verge;
Always nearing the solution of some theme he could not solve.- The Inventor, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- There are purple grapes in the Land of Git-Thare.
- The Land of Git-Thare, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- I say the very things that make the greatest Stir
An' the most interestin' things, are things that did n't occur.- Things that did n't occur, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- Strew gladness on the paths of men—
You will not pass this way again.- I shall not pass this Way again, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). The title of this poem derives from a saying of William Penn.
- A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead;
They followed still his crooked way
And lost a hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.- The Calf-Path, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
