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Man on the dubious waves of error toss'd.

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
Errors
Wave
Men
Dubious
Toss
Waves
Error

More quotes by William Cowper

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Sends Nature forth the daughter of the skies... To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.
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But conversation, choose what theme we may, And chiefly when religion leads the way, Should flow, like waters after summer show'rs, Not as if raised by mere mechanic powers.
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Those flimsy webs that break as soon as wrought, attain not to the dignity of thought.
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But still remember, if you mean to please, To press your point with modesty and ease.
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Truth is the golden girdle of the globe.
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I venerate the man whose heart is warm, Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life, Coincident, exhibit lucid proof That he is honest in the sacred cause.
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O, popular applause! what heart of man is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms?
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Most satirists are indeed a public scourge Their mildest physic is a farrier's purge Their acrid temper turns, as soon as stirr'd, The milk of their good purpose all to curd. Their zeal begotten, as their works rehearse, By lean despair upon an empty purse.
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What is it but a map of busy life, Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?
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Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay.
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The man to solitude accustom'd long, Perceives in everything that lives a tongue Not animals alone, but shrubs and trees Have speech for him, and understood with ease, After long drought when rains abundant fall, He hears the herbs and flowers rejoicing all.
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Absence of occupation is not rest.
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There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart he does not feel for man.
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His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock, it never is at home.
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We sacrifice to dress till household joys and comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry, and keeps our larder lean.
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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.
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Learning itself, received into a mind By nature weak, or viciously inclined, Serves but to lead philosophers astray, Where children would with ease discern the way.
William Cowper
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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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But many a crime deemed innocent on earth Is registered in Heaven and these no doubt Have each their record, with a curse annex'd.
William Cowper
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Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, Have oft-times no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.
William Cowper