Quote

An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.

William Cowper

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

William Cowper
Age: 68 †
Born: 1731
Born: November 26
Died: 1800
Died: April 25
Hymnwriter
Poet
Poet Lawyer
Translator
Writer
Berkhamsted
Hertfordshire
Straws
Feeble
Tail
Tails
Stuck
Epigram
Thing
Epigrams
Way
Straw
Sting

More quotes by William Cowper

Image
Folly ends where genuine hope begins.
William Cowper
Image
In man or woman, but far most in man, And most of all in man that ministers, And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe All affectation. 'Tis my perfect scorn: Object of my implacable disgust.
William Cowper
Image
Tea - the cups that cheer but not inebriate.
William Cowper
Image
Dejection of spirits, which may have prevented many a man from becoming an author, made me one. I find constant employment necessary, and therefore take care to be constantly employed. . . . When I can find no other occupation, I think and when I think, I am very apt to do it in rhyme.
William Cowper
Image
Call'd to the temple of impure delight He that abstains, and he alone, does right. If a wish wander that way, call it home He cannot long be safe whose wishes roam.
William Cowper
Image
We sacrifice to dress till household joys and comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry, and keeps our larder lean.
William Cowper
Image
Absence of occupation is not rest.
William Cowper
Image
Not to understand a treasure's worth till time has stole away the slighted good, is cause of half the poverty we feel, and makes the world the wilderness it is.
William Cowper
Image
Hast thou not learnd what thou art often told, A truth still sacred, and believed of old, That no success attends on spears and swords Unblest, and that the battle is the Lords?
William Cowper
Image
England with all thy faults, I love thee still-- My country! and, while yet a nook is left Where English minds and manners may be found, Shall be constrained to love thee.
William Cowper
Image
Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise, We love the play-place of our early days The scene is touching, and the heart is stone, That feels not at that sight, and feels at none.
William Cowper
Image
Me howling blasts drive devious, tempest-tossed, / Sails ripped, seams opening wide, and compass lost.
William Cowper
Image
I am out of humanity's reach.
William Cowper
Image
No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach.
William Cowper
Image
Pleasure admitted in undue degree, enslaves the will, nor leaves the judgment free.
William Cowper
Image
Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time.
William Cowper
Image
Did Charity prevail, the press would prove A vehicle of virtue, truth, and love.
William Cowper
Image
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
William Cowper
Image
Necessity invented stools, Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, And luxury the accomplish'd Sofa last.
William Cowper
Image
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break, With blessings on your head
William Cowper