William Cowper Quotes
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As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon, So sophistry, cleaves close to, and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects.
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A heretic, my dear sir, is a fellow who disagrees with you regarding something neither of you knows anything about.
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There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart; he does not feel for man.
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Spare feast! a radish and an egg.
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Books are not seldom talismans and spells.
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When nations are to perish in their sins, 'tis in the Church the leprosy begins.
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Remorse begets reform.
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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 flow’r. Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.
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Greece, sound, thy Homer's, Rome thy Virgil's name, But England's Milton equals both in fame.
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Religion Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway, Where his eagles never flew, None as invincible as they.
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Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, who had else Like kindred drops been mingled into one.
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I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?
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And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the book's outside, who ne'er look'd within?
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Vice stings us even in our pleasures, but virtue consoles us even in our pains.
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Pleasure is labour too, and tires as much.
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We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works die too.
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Thieves at home must hang; but he that puts Into his overgorged and bloated purse The wealth of Indian provinces, escapes.
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O Winter, ruler of the inverted year!
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If hindrances obstruct the way, Thy magnanimity display. And let thy strength be seen: But O, if Fortune fill thy sail With more than a propitious gale, Take half thy canvas in.
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God made bees, and bees made honey, God made man, and man made money, Pride made the devil, and the devil made sin; So God made a cole-pit to put the devil in.
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Some to the fascination of a name, Surrender judgment hoodwinked.
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O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.
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Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
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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.