Kipling Quotes

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, when India was colonized by the British. Rudyard's early life was influenced by Indian culture. He was raised by an "ayah" (house maid) who taught him Hindi as his first language. This fusion of Anglo-Indian upbringing deeply influenced his thinking, as is reflected in his works. In his poem "The Ballad of East and West," he expresses the beauty in the diversity of eastern and western culture.

Ballad of East and West
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet
Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great judgment seat;
But there is neither East nor West, border nor breed nor birth
When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth!

The English Flag
Never was isle so little, never was sea so lone,
But over the scud and the palm-trees an English flag was flown.

The English Flag, Kipling Quotes
Winds of the World give answer! They are whimpering to and fro
And what should they know of England who only England know?

The Ballad of East and West, Kipling Quotes
He's up and away from Fort Bukloh as fast as he can fly,
Till he was aware of his father's mare in the gut of the Tongue of Jagai,
Till he was aware of his father's mare with Kamal upon her back,
And when he could spy the white of her eye, he made the pistol crack.
He has fired once, he has fired twice, but the whistling ball went wide.

Gypsy Trail
The white moth to the closing vine,
The bee to the open clover,
And the Gypsy blood to the Gypsy blood
Ever the wide world over.

Gypsy Trail
The wild hawk to the wind-swept sky,
The deer to the wholesome wold;
And the heart of a man to the heart of a maid,
As it was in the days of old.

Lovers Litany
Sing, for faith and hope are high
None so true as you and I
Sing the Lover's Litany:
"Love like ours can never die!"

Mandalay
Oh the road to Mandalay
Where the flyin'-fishes play
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!

Song of Kabir
My brother kneels, so saith Kabir,
To stone and brass in heathen-wise
But in my brother's voice I hear
My own unanswered agonies.
His God is as his fates assign
His prayer is all the world's... and mine.

The Betrothed
For Maggie has written a letter to give me my choice between
The wee little whimpering Love and the great god Nick O'Teen
And I have been servant of Love for barely a twelvemonth clear,
But I have been priest of Partagas a matter of seven year.
And the gloom of my bachelor days is flecked with the cherry light
Of stumps that I burned to friendship, and pleasure and work and fight.

The Female of the Species
When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted, rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

The Vampire
A fool there was and he made his prayer
(Even as you and I!)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair
(We called her the woman who did not care)
But the fool he called her his lady fair
(Even as you and I!)

A School Song: Stalky & Co.
Let us now praise famous men
Men of little showing
For their work continueth,
And their work continueth,
Greater than their knowing.