Sam Walter Foss

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.

Quotes

 * 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).