a man's reach should exceed his grasp
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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
In "Andrea" what is meant by the lines, Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?
From English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World by Long, William Joseph
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?
From Browning and the Dramatic Monologue by Curry, S. S. (Samuel Silas)
"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?"
From To Love by Peterson, Margaret
"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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
