Quote

Necessity invented stools, Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, And luxury the accomplish'd Sofa last.

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
Elbow
Invented
Sofa
Necessity
Luxury
Sofas
Accomplish
Elbows
Lasts
Suggested
Last
Convenience
Next
Furniture
Stools
Chairs

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Far happier are the dead methinks than they who look for death and fear it every day.
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Sin let loose speaks punishment at hand.
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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.
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But what is truth? 'Twas Pilate's question put To Truth itself, that deign'd him no reply.
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Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.
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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.
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O Winter, ruler of the inverted year!
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Good sense, good health, good conscience, and good fame,--all these belong to virtue, and all prove that virtue has a title to your love.
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Elegant as simplicity, and warm As ecstasy.
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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.
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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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Absence of occupation is not rest.
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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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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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How! leap into the pit our life to save? To save our life leap all into the grave.
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Ten thousand casks, Forever dribbling out their base contents, Touch'd by the Midas finger of the state, Bleed gold for ministers to sport away. Drink, and be mad then 'tis your country bids!
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They love the country, and none else, who seek For their own sake its silence and its shade. Delights which who would leave, that has a heart Susceptible of pity, or a mind Cultured and capable of sober thought.
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Toil for the brave! The brave that are no more.
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Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me anymore.
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Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in white and black the same.
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