William Cowper Quotes (237 Quotes)

Remorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid.

The busy trifler dreams himself alone, Frames many a purpose, and God works his own.

O, popular applause! what heart of man is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms?

One leg by truth supported, one by lies,They sidle to the goal with awkward pace,Secure of nothing -- but to lose the race.

God made the country, and man made the town.

Friendly to peace, but not to me!

Oh, laugh or mourn with me the rueful jest, A cassocked huntsman and a fiddling priest

The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be, Help me to tear it from thy throne , And worship only thee.

Made poetry a mere mechanic art And every warbler has his tune by heart.

Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees.

What is it but a map of busy life,Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns

But this with boldness I proclaim,
Nor care if thousands hear,
Sweet is the ointment of His name,
Not life is half so dear.

Freedom hath a thousand charms to show, That slaves, howe'er contented, never know.

There is a pleasure in poetic pains. Which only poets know.

Faults in the life breed errors in the brain,And these, reciprocally, those again.

How fleet is a glance of the mind Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged arrows of light.

An idler is a watch that wants both hands As useless if it goes as when it stands.

I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute.

A life all turbulence and noise may seem To him that leads it wise and to be praised, But wisdom is a pearl with most success Sought in still waters.

Visitors are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not visit, would do nothing

No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed.

Without one friend, above all foes, Britannia give the world repose

Then love in every heart would reign,
And war would cease to roar;
And cruel and bloodthirsty men
Would thirst for blood no more.

Nothing Jesus did or spoke,
Henceforth let me ever slight;
For I love His easy yoke,
And find His burden light.

Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.

The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change, And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.

The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear And something, every day they live, To pity, and perhaps forgive.

Strength may wield the ponderous spade, May turn the clod, and wheel the compost home But elegance, chief grace the garden shows, And most attractive, is the fair result Of thought, the creature of a polished mind.

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.

The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.

Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair.

Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little; we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

The man that hails you Tom or Jack, and proves by thumps upon your back how he esteems your merit, is such a friend, that one had need be very much his friend indeed to pardon or to bear it.

England, with all thy faults, I love thee still--
My country!

Ye therefore who love mercy, teach your sons to love it, too.

With outstretched hoe I slew him at the door, And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE.

Still ending, and beginning still.

The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no?

They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed.

Can a woman's tender care Cease towards the child she bare Yes, she may forgetful be, Yet will I remember thee.

Beggars invention and makes fancy lame.

The cares of today are seldom those of tomorrow and when we lie down at night we may safely say to most of our troubles, 'Ye have done your worst, and we shall see you no more.'

But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast The breath of heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.

When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave.

Himself a wanderer from the narrow way, His silly sheep, what wonder if they stray

Made poetry a mere mechanical art.

The solemn fop significant and budge A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge.

But strive still to be a man before your mother.

An honest man, close-buttoned to the chin, Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within.

Man disavows, and Deity disowns me hell might afford my miseries a shelter therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all bolted against me.