Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Resolution
Videlicit,
That each man swore to do his best
To damn and perjure all the rest.
Butler—Hudibras. Pt. I. Canto II. L. 630.
I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch
William Lloyd Garrison—Salutatory of the Liberator. Vol. I. No. 1. Jan. 1. 1831.
I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice.
William Lloyd Garrison—Salutatory of the Liberator. Vol. I. No. 1. Jan. 1, 1831.
Nor cast one longing, ling’ring look behind.
Gray—Elegy in a Country Churchyard. St. 22.
In truth there is no such thing in man’s nature as a settled and full resolve either for good or evil, except at the very moment of execution.
Hawthorne—Twice-Told Tales. Fancy’s Show Box.
Hast thou attempted greatnesse?
Then go on;
Back-turning slackens resolution.
Herrick—Regression Spoils Resolution.
For when two
Join in the same adventure, one perceives
Before the other how they ought to act;
While one alone, however prompt, resolves
More tardily and with a weaker will.
Homer—Iliad. Bk. X. L. 257. Bryant’s trans.
Resolve, and thou art free.
Longfellow—Masque of Pandora. Pt. VI. In the Garden.
In life’s small things be resolute and great
To keep thy muscle trained: know’st thou when Fate
Thy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,
“I find thee worthy; do this deed for me?”
Lowell—Epigram.
Never tell your resolution beforehand.
John Selden—Table Talk. Wisdom.
Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire;
Threaten the threat’ner and outface the brow
Of bragging horror: so shall inferior eyes,
That borrow their behaviours from the great,
Grow great by your example and put on
The dauntless spirit of resolution.
King John. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 48.
And hearts resolved and hands prepared
The blessings they enjoy to guard.
Smollett—Humphry Clinker. Ode to Leven Water.