Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.
quote by Henry David Thoreau
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Henry David Thoreau in Walden, 1854
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.
quote by James Thurber
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bus Stop
Lights are burning
In quiet rooms
Where lives go on
Resembling ours.
The quiet lives
That follow us—
These lives we lead
But do not own—
Stand in the rain
So quietly
When we are gone,
So quietly . . .
And the last bus
Comes letting dark
Umbrellas out—
Black flowers, black flowers.
And lives go on.
And lives go on
Like sudden lights
At street corners
Or like the lights
In quiet rooms
Left on for hours,
Burning, burning.
Submitted by C.K.
poem by Donald Justice
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Many books today suggest that the mass of women lead lives of noisy desperation.
quote by Peter S. Prescott
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Killing yourself is a major commitment, it takes a kind of courage. Most people just lead lives of cowardly desperation. It's kinda half suicide where you just dull yourself with substances.
quote by Robert Crumb
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Inspiration~ micropoetry
Inspiration is like a gentle breeze it slowly passes, softly touches, leaves an everlasting impression and awakens the eternal soul!
Man tends to act either out of inspiration or out of desperation. But be careful often acts done in desperation lead to miseries.
poem by Meetika Srivastava
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Destinations Worse Than the Grave
Say prayers with candlelight
To lead a quiet life;
Meditate beside gentle lakes
To stay off dark spirits of desperation;
Gaze upon crosses and icons
That you don’t spend your nights
Sleeping in fields or hustling on cruel streets.
People are judgmental
When they watch someone fall;
Ideas are hard weapons of destruction
When they curse another human’s choices
Or fragile constructions.
Kiss somebody’s wounds
In this lifetime,
Never believe you’re immune
From suffering or degradation.
There are fates worse than death,
Destinations worse than the grave,
Souls impossible to save:
Forgiveness is the only key
To unlock the door of dignity.
poem by Uriah Hamilton
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I do believe that most men live lives of quiet desperation. For despair, optimism is the only practical solution. Hope is practical. Because eliminate that and it's pretty scary. Hope at least gives you the option of living.
quote by Harry Nilsson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lead Balloon
Kiss my ass! I said
And I threw my drink
Tequila trickling
Down his business suit
Must be the irish blood
Fight before you think
Turn it now
You cant cowtow
You cant undo it
Its his town
And that went down
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
He said sic her, rover
That went over
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon
An angry man is just an angry man
But an angry woman
Bitch!
I had to ask him for a helping hand
It came with the heart
Of a bonaparte
Of a frozen fish
Its his town
And that went down
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
He said sic her, rover
That went over
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon
Lead balloon, lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon, lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon, lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon
Its his town
And that went down
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead balloon
He said sic her, rover
That went over
Like a lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead lead lead lead balloon
Lead balloon
song performed by by Joni Mitchell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Losers
This is an ode to lives of quiet desperation
To life
At its lamest
When she lives paycheck to paycheck
And he hides his ache in tired smiles and his kids will never know
When they cry every night when shouts fill the kitchen and their family threatens to crumble at the seams
And she ignores the giggles as she approaches because she pretends they can't break her but they've already broken her smile
He didn't tell his friends he has leukemia because he wants to be normal and having a friend who's dying is much too hard
And who can blame him
You know nothing about the losers in your life because you never cared to ask
But sometimes her broken smiles are more precious than anything
poem by Tsunami HiroshiSu
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Desperation Is A Lonely Poem
DESPERATION IS A LONELY POEM
Desperation is a lonely poem
And what I have to say
And have said so many times before
Will not save me
From this situation.
Desperation is a lonely poem
And a helpless poem
And a difficult poem
And a painful poem
And a poem I do not know how to get out of.
Desperation is the silence of all these words
And the nothingness of endless not hearing
When I cry with all my soul aloud.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Desperation Samba
Desperation samba (halloween in tijuana)
By: jimmy buffett, will jennings, timothy b. schmit
1985
This song brings to mind two things. first, an image of robert mitchum
Standing in the doorway of a bar in tijuana, and second, a line by
Thomas mcguane, my brother-in-law, from his book, panama,
"the night wrote a check the morning couldn't cash."
- used by permission of author
Halloween in tijuana
Full moon in my eyes
I wonder how in the hell i got here
Without a disguise
Should i take this last step
Or turn myself around
Or follow my intuition into that border town
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico [i want to dance in mexico]
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos [...with our friends]
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
Pretty girls they beckon
From their rooms above
Skeletons are dancing
In the name of love
Don't know where i'm goin'
I don't like where i've been
There may be no exit
But hell i'm going in
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
I hear the people singing that same old haunting tune
I drink because i know it's me against the moon
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
-- spoken:
"tss, tss tss"
"hey, psst amigo!"
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
Yo quiero a bailar en mexico
We do the desperation samba con nos amigos
- notes:
Background vocals: timothy b. schmit, harry stinson
Featuring reggie young on gut string guitar and
Harrison ford on the bullwhip
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage
(carole bayer-sager & peter allen)
Quiet please, there's a lady on stage
She may not be the latest rage
But she's singing and she means it
And she deserves a little silence
Quiet please, there's a woman up there
And she's been honest through her songs
Long before your consciousness was raised
Doesn't that deserve a little praise
So put your hands together and help her along
All that's left of the singer's
All that's left of the song
Stand for the ovation
And give her one last celebration
Quiet please, there's a person up there
And she's been singing of the things
That none of us could bear to hear for ourselves
Give her your respect if nothing else
Quiet please, there's a lady on stage
Conductor, turn the final page
And when it's over we can all go home
But she lives on -- on the stage alone.
song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Quiet Pleaseres A Lady On Stage
(carole bayer-sager & peter allen)
Quiet please, theres a lady on stage
She may not be the latest rage
But shes singing and she means it
And she deserves a little silence
Quiet please, theres a woman up there
And shes been honest through her songs
Long before your consciousness was raised
Doesnt that deserve a little praise
So put your hands together and help her along
All thats left of the singers
All thats left of the song
Stand for the ovation
And give her one last celebration
Quiet please, theres a person up there
And shes been singing of the things
That none of us could bear to hear for ourselves
Give her your respect if nothing else
Quiet please, theres a lady on stage
Conductor, turn the final page
And when its over we can all go home
But she lives on -- on the stage alone.
song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No Acceptance Of What Is Going On
Many today are living lives in desperation.
Few are still clinging onto delusions.
The kind that only an appearance from Santa Claus,
Can forever erase.
The shouting sounds of reality,
Can not chase them away...
From their 'what if' existences.
There is no acceptance of what is going on,
In front of their faces.
And their lack of involvement,
Has invited what it is they deny.
Many today are living lives in desperation.
Few are still clinging onto delusions.
The kind that only an appearance from Santa Claus,
Can forever erase.
Minds are gone!
And there is no where to retrieve them,
From a lost and found!
Minds are gone!
And some folks were never attached to one,
To know what it is they are missing.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Something More (Augustine's Confession)
Augustine just woke up with a broken heart
All this time he's never been awake before
At 31 his whole world is a question mark
All this time he's never been awake before
Watching dreams that he once had
Feed the flame inside his head
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness
He says
"Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you"
"Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you"
Augustine
All his fears keeping falling out
All this time he's never been awake before
Finding out his old dreams aren't panning out
All this time he's never been awake before
But he's mad to be alive
And he's dying to be met
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness
He says
"Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you"
"Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you"
Something more
Hey I give it all away
Nothing I was holding back remains
Hey i give it all away
Looking for the grace of God today
Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you
Theres gotta be something more
Than what i've been before
I'm crying out to you
Theres gotta be something more
Than what i'm living for
I'm crying out to you
Theres gotta be something more
Than what i've been before
I'm crying out to you
Three Four
song performed by by Switchfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Before I Was An Old Man
BEFORE I WAS AN OLD MAN
Before I was an old man
Many centuries ago
I sang such a quiet deep song
A song so so beautiful
In its longing and its tenderness.
But now I am so so old
My song creaks
And my voice hears itself
As if a stranger’s noise
Pounding through my eardrums.
And I know am just just not the voice
I was,
Quiet and deep and strong-
Long long ago,
Before I lived in this century.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Something More
Augustine just woke up with a broken heart
All this time, he's never been awake before
At 31, his whole world is a question mark
All this time, he's never been awake before
Watching dreams that he once had
Feed the flame inside his head
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness he says
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
Augustine, all his fears keep falling out
All this time, he's never been awake before
Finding out his old dreams aren't panning out
All this time, he's never been awake before
And he's mad to be alive
And he's dying to be met
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness he says
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
Hey, I gave it all away
Nothing I was holding back remains
Hey, I gave it all away
Looking for the grace of God again
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you
There's gotta be something more
Than what I'm living for
I'm crying out to you...
song performed by by Switchfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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John Cornstalk
Jack Cornstalk lives in the Southern Land—
What says Cornstalk John?
Jack Cornstalk says in a loud firm voice:
“Land of the South, lead on.”
CHORUS:
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Land of the South, lead on!
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Lead on, Land of the South!
John Bull lays claim to the Southern Land.
Jack, is the South Land thine?
John Cornstalk cries in a loud, firm voice:
“The Land of the South is mine!”
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Land of the South, lead on!
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Lead on, Land of the South!
“By the long, long years my father toiled
In the pioneering band;
By the hardships of those early days,
I claim the Southern Land!”
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Land of the South, lead on!
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Lead on, Land of the South!
But where shall the Land of the South lead to?
Where lead the nation’s van?
Jack Cornstalk cries from his strong young heart:
“To the Dynasty of Man.”
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Land of the South, lead on!
Land of the South, lead on, lead on,
Lead on, Land of the South!
poem by Henry Lawson
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