“Viandante,amare è ritrovare la propria animatraverso l'anima dell'amato.Quando l'amato se ne stacca,allora tu l'hai perduta.È scritto: "Ho un amico,ma il mio dolore non ha amici".”

“Ricorda, amico mio, che non è tanto importante quello che ti succede, ma come reagisci agli eventi.”

“What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness, Anger, discontent and drooping hopes? Degenerate sons and daughters, Life is too strong for you— It takes life to love Life.”

“To this generation I would say:Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty.”

“My name used to be in the papers dailyAs having dined somewhere,Or traveled somewhere,Or rented a house in Paris,Where I entertained the nobility.I was forever eating or traveling,Or taking the cure at Baden-Baden.Now I am here to do honorTo Spoon River, here beside the family whence I sprang.No one cares now where I dined,Or lived, or whom I entertained,Or how often I took the cure at Baden-Baden!”

“The snows and the roses of yesterday are vanished;And what is love but a rose that fades?”

“And I never started to plow in my lifeThat some one did not stop in the roadAnd take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddle—And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,And not a single regret.”