Quote

Absence of occupation is not rest.

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
Rest
Occupation
Absence

More quotes by 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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Stamps God's own name upon a lie just made, To turn a penny in the way of trade.
William Cowper
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His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock, it never is at home.
William Cowper
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Some people are more nice than wise.
William Cowper
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Made poetry a mere mechanic art.
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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O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.
William Cowper
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Great contest follows, and much learned dust Involves the combatants each claiming truth, And truth disclaiming both.
William Cowper
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Forced from home, and all its pleasures, afric coast I left forlorn to increase a stranger's treasures, o the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, paid my price in paltry gold but, though theirs they have enroll'd me, minds are never to be sold.
William Cowper
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What we admire we praise and when we praise, Advance it into notice, that its worth Acknowledged, others may admire it too.
William Cowper
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But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.
William Cowper
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Remorse begets reform.
William Cowper
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There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart he does not feel for man.
William Cowper
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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?
William Cowper
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We are never more in danger than when we think ourselves most secure, nor in reality more secure than when we seem to be most in danger.
William Cowper
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Not to understand a treasure's worth till time has stole away the slighted good, is cause of half the poverty we feel, and makes the world the wilderness it is.
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.
William Cowper
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Pleasure is labour too, and tires as much.
William Cowper
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In indolent vacuity of thought.
William Cowper
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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.
William Cowper