Isaac Watts Quotes
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Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I, To mourn, and murmur and repine, To see the wicked placed on high, In pride and robes of honor shine. But oh, their end, their dreadful end, Thy sanctuary taught me so, On slipp'ry rocks I see them stand, And fiery billows roll below.
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As a man may be eating all day, and for want of digestion is never nourished, so these endless readers may cram themselves in vain with intellectual food.
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Nothing tends so much to enlarge the mind as traveling.
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In works of labour or of skillI would be busy too:For Satan finds some mischief stillFor idle hands to do.
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It is not to be expected that we should love God supremely if we have not known him to be more desirable than all other things.
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I would not change my native landFor rich Peru with all her gold
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Abandon the secret chamber and the spiritual life will decay.
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Among all the accomplishments of youth there is none preferable to a decent and agreeable behavior among men, a modest freedom of speech, a soft and elegant manner of address, a graceful and lovely deportment, a cheerful gravity and good-humor, with a mind appearing ever serene under the ruffling accidents of human life.
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Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God and the other world.
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Once a day, especially in the early years of life and study, call yourselves to an account what new ideas, what new proposition or truth you have gained, what further confirmation of known truths, and what advances you have made in any part of knowledge.
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The tulip and the butterfly Appear in gayer coats than I: Let me be dressed fine as I will, Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.
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To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
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The stars, that in their courses roll, Have much instruction given; But Thy good Word informs my soul How I may climb to Heaven.
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In Job and the Psalms we shall find more sublime ideas, more elevated language, than in any of the heathen versifiers of Greece or Rome.
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It was a saying of the ancients, "Truth lies in a well;" and to carry on this metaphor, we may justly say that logic does supply us with steps, whereby we may go down to reach the water.
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There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign; Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain.
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When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
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Two sentiments alone suffice for man, were he to live the age of the rocks - love, and the contemplation of the Deity.
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I write not for your farthing, but to try. How I your farthing writers, may outvie.
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How glad the heathens would have been, That worship idols, wood and stone, If they the book God had seen.
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Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, Holy angels guard thy bed! Heavenly blessing without number Gently falling on thy head.
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Now shall my inward joys arise, And burst into a song; Almighty love inspires my heart, And pleasure tunes my tongue.
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Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
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Maintain a constant watch at all times against a dogmatical spirit: fix not your assent to any proposition in a firm and unalterable manner, till you have some firm and unalterable ground for it, and till you have arrived at some clear and sure evidence.