Robert W. Service Quotes

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe.

Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe.

Our breath is brief, and being so Let's make our heaven here below, And lavish kindness as we go.

A promise made is a debt unpaid.

Just draw on your grit; it's so easy to quit - It's the keeping your chin up that's hard.

Be sure your wisest words are those you do not say.

No man can be a failure if he thinks he's a success; If he thinks he is a winner, then he is.

The Wanderlust has got me... by the belly-aching fire

It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race.

This is the law of the Yukon, that only the strong shall thrive; that surely the weak shall perish, and only the fit survive.

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.

The lonely sunsets flare forlorn Down valleys dreadly desolate; The lonely mountains soar in scorn As still as death, as stern as fate.

Avoid extremes: be moderate In saving and in spending; An equable and easy gait Will win an easy ending.

The only society I like is rough and tough, and the tougher the better. There's where you get down to bedrock and meet human people.

The happy man is he who knows his limitations, yet bows to no false gods.

Even goats may have starlight in their eyes.

Carry on! Carry on! Fight the good fight and true; Believe in you mission, greet life with a cheer.

Some praise the Lord for Light, The living spark; I thank God for the Night The healing dark.

His life, though none too long, Was never dull: Of woman, wine and song Bill had his full.

I have no doubts that the Devil grins, As seas of ink I spatter. Ye gods, forgive my “literary” sins – The other kind don’t matter.

I remember little of the Yukon or what I wrote there.

I have an intense dislike for artificial society. In France, one could lead a free life - to do what one wanted to do without interference or criticism from one's neighbors.

Ah! the clock is always slow; it is later than you think.

Write verse, not poetry. The public wants verse. If you have a talent for poetry, then don't by any means mother it, but try your hand at verse.

Then you've a hunch what the music meant . . . hunger and night and the stars.

I like to think that when I fall, A rain-drop in Death's shoreless sea, This shelf of books along the wall, Beside my bed, will mourn for me.

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time You stand to bow your last adieu; A moment, and the prompter's chime Will ring the curtain down on you.

I have no doubt at all the Devil grins, As seas of ink I spatter. Ye gods, forgive my "literary" sins --The other kind don't matter.

Of Books and Scribes there are no end:This Plague--and who can doubt it?Dismays me so, I've sadly pennedAnother book about it.

A half-dead thing in a stark dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold.

It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race.

This is the Law of the Yukon that only the strong shall thrive That surely the weak shall perish and only the fit survive.

It's the plugging away that will win you the day So don't be a piker old pard! Just draw on your grit it's so easy to quit- It's the keeping your chin up that's hard.

Ah! the clock is always slow it is later than you think.

It's the plugging away that will win you the day So don't be a piker old pard! Just draw on your grit it's so easy to quit- It's the keeping your chin up that's hard.

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out it's the grain of sand in your shoe.