Step by step lift bad to good,
Without halting, without rest.
Lifting Better up to Best;
Planting seeds of knowledge pure.

So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So nigh is God to man.
When Duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

I was too hasty to condemn unheard; and you perhaps too prompt in your replies. [ Dryden ]

When Shakespeare is charged with debts to his authors, Landor replies: Yes, he was more original than his originals. He breathed upon dead bodies and brought them to life. [ Emerson ]

In Goethe's drama, Iphigenia defends her chastity, ascribing her firmness to the gods. No god hath said this: thine own heart hath spoken, answered Thoas, the king. They only speak to us through our heart, she replies. Have not I the right to hear them too? he rejoins. Thy storm of passion drowns the gentle whisper, adds the maiden, and closes all debate. [ Bartol ]