a man's reach should exceed his grasp

Cultural  

1. Words from a poem by Robert Browning, suggesting that, to achieve anything worthwhile, a person should attempt even those things that may turn out to be impossible.

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Example Sentences

An English literature major at Brown University in Rhode Island, Paterno was a voracious reader whose favorite sayings included Robert Browning's "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"

From Chicago Tribune • Jan. 23, 2012

Robert Browning put this truth into the mouth of Andrea del Sarto in one of the strongest lines in all English verse, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp."

From Socialism: Positive and Negative by La Monte, Robert Rives

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp," is Browning's rebuke to the merely prudent.

From Hidden from the Prudent The 7th William Penn Lecture, May 8, 1921 by Jones, Paul

He says:—   "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,   Or what's a heaven for?"

From Halleck's New English Literature by Halleck, Reuben Post

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,   Or what's a heaven for?"

From To Love by Peterson, Margaret