More from Robert Browning
- Men and Women (1855), “Fra Lippo Lippi, line 54.
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?Andrea del Sarto (1855), Men and Women (1855), “Andrea del Sarto”, line 98.In context
People/Robert Browning/Quote

Better have failed in the high aim, as I,
Than vulgarly in the low aim succeed,—
As, God be thanked! I do not.
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Quote and source from Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?