The land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible.
Washington Irving

The more determinedly I exist, as myself, within the conditions of the time, the more clearly I shall hear the language of the past, the nearer I shall feel the glow of its life.
Karl Jaspers

The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life, again like children, neither tired of living nor aware of death.
Desiderius Erasmus

The nearer the dawn the darker the night.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There are certain words which are nearer and dearer to a man than any others.
Nikolai Gogol

There is one Quality, which has somewhat so heavenly in it; that by so much the more we are possess'd of it, by so much the more we draw nearer to the Great Author of Nature.
Eliza Haywood

Time and memory are true artists; they remould reality nearer to the heart's desire.
John Dewey

We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

When I came there I found all my family gone, for the Indians had killed five people in the winter near that place, which frightened my wife and family away to Roanoke about 35 miles nearer in among the inhabitants, which I was informed of by an old man I met near the place.
Christopher Gist

When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us.
Bell Hooks

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.
William Wordsworth