Quote

Unless a love of virtue light the flame, Satire is, more than those he brands, to blame He hides behind a magisterial air He own offences, and strips others' bare.

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
Hides
Behinds
Satire
Unless
Behind
Bare
Virtue
Flame
Magisterial
Others
Flames
Offences
Light
Brands
Strips
Love
Blame
Offence
Air

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Forgot the blush that virgin fears impart To modest cheeks, and borrowed one from art.
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Some people are more nice than wise.
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I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute, From the centre all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
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Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.
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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.
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Man disavows, and Deity disowns me: hell might afford my miseries a shelter therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all bolted against me.
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A man renowned for repartee will seldom scruple to make free with friendship's finest feeling, will thrust a dagger at your breast, and say he wounded you in jest, by way of balm for healing.
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But animated nature sweeter still, to soothe and satisfy the human ear.
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Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in white and black the same.
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It is a terrible thought, that nothing is ever forgotten that not an oath is ever uttered that does not continue to vibrate through all times, in the wide spreading current of sound that not a prayer is lisped, that its record is not to be found st
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Where penury is felt the thought is chain'd, And sweet colloquial pleasures are but few.
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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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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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An idler is a watch that wants both hands As useless if it goes as when it stands.
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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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Religion Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway, Where his eagles never flew, None as invincible as they.
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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.
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A glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun, It gives a light to every age, It gives, but borrows none.
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God made the country, and man made the town.
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Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay.
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