Quote

But slaves that once conceive the glowing thought Of freedom, in that hope itself possess All that the contest calls for spirit, strength, The scorn of danger, and united hearts, The surest presage of the good they seek.

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
Heart
Danger
Conceive
Good
Strength
Scorn
Liberty
Slaves
Freedom
Possess
Presage
United
Calls
Surest
Hope
Slave
Contest
Spirit
Hearts
Glowing
Thought
Seek
Contests

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[My kitten] is dressed in a tortoise-shell suit, and I know you will delight in her.
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Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God.
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Our love is principle, and has its root In reason, is judicious, manly, free.
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Vice stings us even in our pleasures, but virtue consoles us even in our pains.
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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.
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Philologists, who chase A painting syllable through time and space Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark, To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's Ark.
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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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A fool must now and then be right, by chance
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Spare feast! a radish and an egg.
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Forced from home, and all its pleasures, afric coast I left forlorn to increase a stranger's treasures, o the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, paid my price in paltry gold but, though theirs they have enroll'd me, minds are never to be sold.
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Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilirate the spirit, and restore The tone of languid nature.
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The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow.
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A lawyer's dealings should be just and fair Honesty shines with great advantage there.
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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.
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Some people are more nice than wise.
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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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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.
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Oh, popular applause! what heart of man Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms? The wisest and the best feel urgent need Of all their caution in thy gentlest gales But swell'd into a gust--who then, alas! With all his canvas set, and inexpert, And therefore, heedless, can withstand thy power?
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Absence of occupation is not rest.
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