Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by James Gates Percival (American Poet, Surgeon)

James Gates Percival (1795–1856) was a celebrated American poet, geologist, and linguist, known for his profound contributions to literature and science in the early 19th century.

Born in Berlin, Connecticut, Percival exhibited extraordinary intellectual prowess from a young age, mastering Latin and Greek by the tender age of ten. His exceptional talents earned him a spot at Yale College when he was just 13, where he flourished in diverse disciplines, including mathematics, astronomy, and languages.

Despite his fondness for science, Percival’s true passion resided in poetry. At the age of 19, he published his first collection, Poems, garnering significant recognition and praise. Throughout the years, he continued to produce numerous volumes of poetry, highlighting a wide array of themes ranging from the allure of nature to contemplative meditations on life and the human condition. Among his most renowned poems are “Prometheus,” “The Coral Grove,” and “The Graves of the Patriots,” which captivated audiences with their sentimentalism and dazzling diction, solidifying his reputation as a leading poet in the United States during the 1820s.

In addition to his poetic pursuits, Percival delved into the realm of geology. In 1835, he was commissioned by the governor of Connecticut to conduct a geological survey of the state, a task he completed and published in 1842. Subsequently, in 1854, he was appointed as the State Geologist for Wisconsin, undertaking a similar geological survey and publishing his findings in 1855.

Percival’s linguistic interests were equally evident in his meticulous study and documentation of Native American languages. His fascination extended to languages from Asia and Europe, featuring the breadth of his scholarly curiosity and endeavors. Notable works showcasing his diverse range of poetic expression include Poems (1821,) Clio (1822,) Prometheus, and Other Poems (1823,) and The Dream of a Day, and Other Poems (1843.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by James Gates Percival

She had grown in her unstained seclusion, bright and pure as a first opening lilac when it spreads its clear leaves to the sweetest dawn of May.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Maidenhood

In eastern lands they talk in flowers, and tell in a garland their loves and cares.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Flowers

Truth comes to us with a slow and doubtful step; measuring the ground she treads on, and forever turning her curious eye, to see that all is right behind; and with a keen survey choosing her onward path.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Truth

Advice and reprehension require the utmost delicacy; painful truths should be delivered in the softest terms, and expressed no farther than is necessary to produce their due effect. A courteous man will mix what is conciliating with what is offensive; praise with censure; deference and respect with the authority of admonition, so far as can be done in consistence with probity and honor. The mind revolts against all censorian power which displays pride or pleasure in finding fault; but advice, divested of the harshness, and yet retaining the honest warmth of truth, is like honey put round the brim of a vessel full of wormwood.—Even this, however, is sometimes insufficient to conceal the bitterness of the draught.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Advice

The same enthusiasm that dignifies a butterfly or a medal to the virtuoso and the antiquary, may convert controversy into quixotism, and present to the deluded imagination of the theologica’ knighterrant, a barber’s basin as Mambrinos helmet. The real value of any doctrine can only be determined by its influence on the conduct of man, with respect to himself, to his fellow creatures, or to God.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Opinion

There is too much reason to apprehend, that the custom of pleading for any client, without discrimination of right or wrong, must lessen the regard due to those important distinctions, and deaden the moral sensibility of the heart.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Lawyers

The world is full of poetry.—The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Poetry

One hour of thoughtful solitude may nerve the heart for days of conflict—girding up its armor to meet the most insidious foe.
—James Gates Percival
Topics: Solitude

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