Quote

Absence of proof is not proof of absence.

William Cowper

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William Cowper
Age: 68 †
Born: 1731
Born: November 26
Died: 1800
Died: April 25
Hymnwriter
Poet
Poet Lawyer
Translator
Writer
Berkhamsted
Hertfordshire
Proof
Healthy
Motivational
Inspirational
Miscellaneous
Suicide
Absence

More quotes by William Cowper

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With spots quadrangular of diamond form, ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, and spades, the emblems of untimely graves.
William Cowper
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War's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at.
William Cowper
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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
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Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.
William Cowper
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But war's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings should not play at. Nations would do well To extort their truncheons from the puny hands Of heroes, whose infirm and baby minds Are gratified with mischief, and who spoil, Because men suffer it, their toy the world.
William Cowper
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... she, that will with kittens jest, Should bear a kitten's joke.
William Cowper
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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.
William Cowper
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Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
William Cowper
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There is a pleasure in poetic pains / Which only poets know.
William Cowper
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Laugh at all you trembled at before.
William Cowper
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Whoever keeps an open ear For tattlers will be sure to hear The trumpet of contention.
William Cowper
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An idler is a watch that wants both hands As useless if it goes as when it stands.
William Cowper
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Even in the stifling bosom of the town, A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms That soothes the rich possessor much consol'd, That here and there some sprigs of mournful mint, Or nightshade, or valerian, grace the well He cultivates.
William Cowper
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Absence of occupation is not rest A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
William Cowper
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Man on the dubious waves of error toss'd.
William Cowper
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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.
William Cowper
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We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works die too.
William Cowper
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For when was public virtue to be found Where private was not?
William Cowper
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And in that hour, The seeds of cruelty, that since have swell'd To such gigantic and enormous growth, Were sown in human nature's fruitful soil. Hence date the persecution and the pain That man inflicts on all inferior kinds, Regardless of their plaints.
William Cowper
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Blest be the art that can immortalize,--the art that baffles time's tyrannic claim to quench it.
William Cowper