William Cowper Quotes
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Learning itself, received into a mind By nature weak, or viciously inclined, Serves but to lead philosophers astray, Where children would with ease discern the way.
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Absence of proof is not proof of absence.
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Strange as it may seem, the most ludicrous lines I ever wrote have been written in the saddest mood.
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Whoever keeps an open ear For tattlers will be sure to hear The trumpet of contention.
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They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed.
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He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves besides.
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No traveler e'er reached that blest abode who found not thorns and briers in his road.
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Events of all sorts creep or fly exactly as God pleases.
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No wisdom that she may gain by experience and reflection hereafter, will compensate the loss of her present hilarity.
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God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to performs
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No tree in all the grove but has its charms, Though each its hue peculiar.
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With spots quadrangular of diamond form, ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, and spades, the emblems of untimely graves.
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Grief is itself a medicine.
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Some write a narrative of wars and feats, Of heroes little known, and call the rant A history.
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The man to solitude accustom'd long, Perceives in everything that lives a tongue; Not animals alone, but shrubs and trees Have speech for him, and understood with ease, After long drought when rains abundant fall, He hears the herbs and flowers rejoicing all.
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Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in white and black the same.
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[My kitten's] gambols are not to be described, and would be incredible, if they could.
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Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.
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Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule.
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The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change, And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
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The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
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Some men make gain a fountain, whence proceeds A stream of liberal and heroic deeds; The swell of pity, not to be confined Within the scanty limits of the mind.
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Some people are more nice than wise.
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When scandal has new-minted an old lie, Or tax'd invention for a fresh supply, 'Tis call'd a satire, and the world appears Gathering around it with erected ears; A thousand names are toss'd into the crowd, Some whisper'd softly, and some twang'd aloud, Just as the sapience of an author's brain, Suggests it safe or dangerous to be plain.