Quotes by William Cowper
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
God made the country, and man made the town.
No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach.
Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour.
A fool must now and then be right, by chance.
Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.
The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
Religion! what treasure untold resides in that heavenly word!
Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
I would not enter in my list of friends, Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path, But he has the humanity, forewarned, Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his creator.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair.
It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme Rudely appealed to on each trifling theme.
The dogs did bark, the children screamed, Up flew the windows all; And every soul bawled out, Well done! As loud as he could bawl.
You told me, I remember, glory, built On selfish principles, is shame and guilt; The deeds that men admire as half divine, Stark naught, because corrupt in their design. Strange doctrine this! that without scruple tears The laurel that the very lightning spares; Brings down the warrior
Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind.
Man disavows, and Deity disowns me: hell might afford my miseries a shelter; therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all bolted against me.
It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme rudely appealed to on each trifling theme.
Visitors are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not visit, would do nothing.
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain: God is His own interpreter, And he will make it plain.
To follow foolish precedents, and winkWith both our eyes, is easier than to think.
I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
Forced from home, and all its pleasures, afric coast I left forlorn; to increase a stranger's treasures, o the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, paid my price in paltry gold; but, though theirs they have enroll'd me, minds are never to be sold.
