Oliver Wendall Holmes
American physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior, a professor of anatomy and physiology at Harvard from 1847 to 1882 and father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Junior, wrote humorous conversational pieces, including
The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table
(1858).
This professional nevertheless achieved fame, regard, and knowledge among the best poets of the 19th century. Holmes nevertheless wrote numerous medical treatises, essays, novels, memoirs, and table-talk books.
“Nature, when she invented, manufactured, and patented her authors, contrived to make critics out of the chips that were left.”
Oliver Wendall Holmes
“Learn the sweet magic of a cheerful face.”
Oliver Wendall Holmes
“Speak clearly if you speak at all, carve every word before you let it fall.”
Oliver Wendall Holmes
“Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it time runs out.”
Oliver Wendall Holmes
“Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become. Except in cases of necessity, which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant things from his enemies; they are ready enough to tell them.”
Oliver Wendall Holmes