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Some people are more nice than wise.

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
Nice
People
Wise
Wisdom

More quotes by William Cowper

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And the tear that is wiped with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile.
William Cowper
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When nations are to perish in their sins, 'tis in the Church the leprosy begins.
William Cowper
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The bird that flutters least is longest on the wing.
William Cowper
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We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works die too.
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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All constraint, / Except what wisdom lays on evil men, / Is evil.
William Cowper
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Far happier are the dead methinks than they who look for death and fear it every day.
William Cowper
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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.
William Cowper
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He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves besides.
William Cowper
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A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his creator.
William Cowper
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Words learn'd by rote a parrot may rehearse, But talking is not always to converse, Not more distinct from harmony divine The constant creaking of a country sign.
William Cowper
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Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
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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The art of poetry is to touch the passions, and its duty to lead them on the side of virtue.
William Cowper
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If a great man struggling with misfortunes is a noble object, a little man that despises them is no contemptible one.
William Cowper
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Folly ends where genuine hope begins.
William Cowper
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True modesty is a discerning grace And only blushes in the proper place But counterfeit is blind, and skulks through fear, Where 'tis a shame to be asham'd t' appear: Humility the parent of the first, The last by vanity produc'd and nurs'd.
William Cowper
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Man in society is like a flow'r, Blown in its native bed. 'Tis there alone His faculties expanded in full bloom Shine out, there only reach their proper use.
William Cowper
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Lived in his saddle, loved the chase, the course, And always, ere he mounted, kiss'd his horse.
William Cowper
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Twere better to be born a stone Of ruder shape, and feeling none, Than with a tenderness like mine And sensibilities so fine! Ah, hapless wretch! condemn'd to dwell Forever in my native shell, Ordained to move when others please, Not for my own content or ease But toss'd and buffeted about, Now in the water and now out.
William Cowper