Quote

God never meant that man should scale the Heavens By strides of human wisdom. In his works, Though wondrous, he commands us in his word To seek him rather where his mercy shines.

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
Heaven
Mercy
Commands
Rather
God
Wondrous
Human
Meant
Shines
Humans
Seek
Heavens
Never
Works
Scale
Men
Wisdom
Scales
Word
Command
Strides
Though
Shining
Stride

More quotes by William Cowper

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A fretful temper will divide the closest knot that may be tied, by ceaseless sharp corrosion a temper passionate and fierce may suddenly your joys disperse at one immense explosion.
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Some write a narrative of wars and feats, Of heroes little known, and call the rant A history.
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I seem forsaken and alone, / I hear the lion roar / And every door is shut but one, / And that is Mercy's door.
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An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.
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When from soft love proceeds the deep distress, ah! why forbid the willing tears to flow?
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[My kitten] is dressed in a tortoise-shell suit, and I know you will delight in her.
William Cowper
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Made poetry a mere mechanic art.
William Cowper
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We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works die too.
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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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Slaves cannot breathe in England if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
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Unmissed but by his dogs and by his groom.
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Defend me, therefore, common sense, say From reveries so airy, from the toil Of dropping buckets into empty wells, And growing old in drawing nothing up.
William Cowper
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Greece, sound, thy Homer's, Rome thy Virgil's name, But England's Milton equals both in fame.
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Poor England! thou art a devoted deer, Beset with every ill but that of fear. The nations hunt all mock thee for a prey They swarm around thee, and thou stand'st at bay.
William Cowper
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Manner is all in all, whate'er is writ,The substitute for genius, sense, and wit.
William Cowper
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The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow.
William Cowper
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Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hourThe bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flow’r. Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.
William Cowper
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All we behold is miracle.
William Cowper
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An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path. But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will turn aside and let the reptile live.
William Cowper
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Go, mark the matchless working of the power That shuts within the seed the future flower Bids these in elegance of form excel. In color these, and those delight the smell Sends nature forth, the daughter of the skies, To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.
William Cowper