Absence Quotes

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
~Haynes Bayly

For I verily, absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, . . .
~Bible

Wives in their husbands' absences grow subtler, And daughters sometimes run off with the butler.
~Byron (George Gordon Noel Byron)

Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravelled, fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.
~ Goldsmith

Achilles absent, was Achilles still.
~ ("Smyrns of Chios")

In the hope to meet Shortly again, and make our absence sweet.
~ Jonson

Ever absent, ever near; Still I see thee, still I hear; Yet I cannot reach thee, dear!
~ Francis Kazincy

What shall I do with all the days and hours That must be counted ere I see thy face? How shall I charm the interval that lowers Between this time and that sweet time of grace?
~ Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble (Mrs. Butler)

But when he (man) shall have been taken from sight, he quickly goes also out of mind. [Lat., Cum autem sublatus fuerit ab oculis, etiam cito transit a mente.]
~ Thomas a Kempis

Your absence of mind we have borne, till your presence of body came to be called in question by it.
~ Lamb (used pseudonym Elia)

For with G.D., to be absent from the body is sometimes (not to speak it profanely) to be present with the Lord.
~ Charles Lamb (used pseudonym Elia)

Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire. [Fr., L'absence diminue les mediocres passions et augmente les grandes, comme le vent eteint les bougies et allume le feu.]
~Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld

Oft in the tranquil hour of night, When stars illume the sky, I gaze upon each orb of light, And wish that thou wert by.
~ George Linley

Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream. And I seek then in vain by the meadow and stream.
~ George Linley

For there's nae luck about the house; There's nae luck at aw; There's little pleasure in the house When our gudeman's awa. - William Julius Mickle,
~ William Julius Mickle

With what a deep devotedness of woe I wept thy absence--o'er and o'er again Thinking of thee, still thee, till thought grew pain, And memory, like a drop that, night and day, Falls cold and ceaseless, wore my heart away!
~ Thomas Moore

Condemned whole years in absence to deplore, And image charms he must behold no more.
~ Alexander Pope

Let no one be willing to speak ill of the absent. [Lat., Absenti nemo ne nocuisse velit.]
~ Sextus Propertius

Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array,-- Days of absence, I am weary; She I love is far away.
~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Among the defects of the bill [Lord Derby's] which are numerous, one provision is conspicuous by its presence and another by its absence.
~ Lord John Russell