2. Familiar Quotations

Joys divided are increased.

J.G. Holland (1819-1881)

My motto is: contented with little, yet wishing for more.

Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself meeting them.

Anonymous

There is not a passion so strongly rooted in the human heart than envy.

Richard Sheridan (1751-1816)

All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.

Juvenal (60-127)

3. Limericks

There was an Old Person of Chili,

Whose conduct was painful and silly;

He sat on the stairs

Eating apples and pears,

That imprudent Old Person of Chili.

There was a young lady whose chin

Resembled the point of a pin;

So she had it made sharp,

And purchased a harp,

And played several tunes with her chin.

There was an Old Person of Nepal,

From his horse had a terrible fall;

But though split quite in two,

With some very strong glue

They mended that Old Man of Nepal.

There was an Old Person of Peru,

Who watched his wife making a stew;

But once by mistake,

In a stove she did bake

That unfortunate Man of Peru.

There was an Old Lady whose folly

Induced her to sit in a holly;

Whereupon, by a thorn

Her dress being torn,

She quickly became melancholy.

There was an Old Person of Dundee,

Who frequented the top of a tree;

When disturbed by the crows,

He abruptly arose,

And exclaimed, “I’ll return to Dundee.”

There was an old man, who when little

Fell casually into a kettle;

But growing too stout,

He could never get out.

So he passed all his life in that kettle.

4. Nursery Rhymes and Poems

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,

Get it done by half past two.

Half past two it can’t be done.

Get it done by half past one.

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

There came a big spider,

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Little Miss Tucket

Sat on a bucket,

Eating some peaches and cream;

There came a grasshopper

And tried hard to stop her;

But she said: “Go away, or I’ll scream”.

Yankee Doodle came to town,

Riding on a pony.

He stuck a feather in his cap

And called it macaroni.

Winter Morning

By Ogden Nash

Winter is the king of showmen,

Turning tree stumps into snowmen

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over lakes.

Smooth and clean and frosty white,

The world looks good enough to bite.

That’s the season to be young,

Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Snow is so snowy when it’s snowing,

I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going.

The Joy of Reading

O for a book and a shady nook,

Either in-doors or out;

With the green leaves whispering overhead,

Or the street cries all about.

Where I may read all at my ease,

Both of the new and old;

For a jolly good book whereon to look,

Is better to me than gold.

Anonymous.

The Brook

Grumbling, stumbling,

Fumbling all the day;

Fluttering, stuttering,

Muttering away;

Rustling, hustling,

Bustling as it flows;

That is how the brook talks,

Bubbling as it goes.

Alfred Tennyson