Quote

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

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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
Call
Temple
Wish
Temples
Cannot
Wishes
Doe
Wander
Home
Delight
Abstains
Right
Whose
Impure
Long
Safe
Roam
Way
Alone
Temperance

More quotes by William Cowper

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That good diffused may more abundant grow.
William Cowper
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O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturbed Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know.
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A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct The language plain, and incidents well link'd Tell not as new what ev'ry body knows and, new or old, still hasten to a close.
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No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed.
William Cowper
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Spare feast! a radish and an egg.
William Cowper
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...So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
William Cowper
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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?
William Cowper
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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?
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What is it but a map of busy life, Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?
William Cowper
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But still remember, if you mean to please, To press your point with modesty and ease.
William Cowper
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There is in souls a sympathy with sounds.
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How various his employments whom the world Calls idle and who justly in return Esteems that busy world an idler too!
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What is there in the vale of lifeHalf so delightful as a wifeWhen friendship, love and peace combineTo stamp the marriage-bond divine?
William Cowper
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She that asks Her dear five hundred friends, contemns them all, And hates their coming.
William Cowper
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Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, who had else Like kindred drops been mingled into one.
William Cowper
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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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And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the book's outside, who ne'er look'd within?
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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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All zeal for a reform, that gives offence To peace and charity, is mere pretence.
William Cowper
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In the vast, and the minute, we see The unambiguous footsteps of the God, Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing And wheels His throne upon the rolling worlds.
William Cowper