Subtle Elements

Famous quotes containing the words subtle and/or elements:

    But our old subtle foe so tempteth me
    That not one hour I can myself sustain.
    Thy grace may wing me to prevent his art,
    And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart.
    John Donne (1572–1631)

    The Laws of Nature are just, but terrible. There is no weak mercy in them. Cause and consequence are inseparable and inevitable. The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes, the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Nature—were Man as unerring in his judgments as Nature.
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)