If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a country town;
May I have a warm house, with a stone at my gate,
And a cleanly young girl to rub my bald pate.
May I govern my passions with an absolute sway,
Grow wiser and better as my strength wears away,
Without gout or stone, by a gentle decay.
- Walter Pope, The Old Man's Wish,
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Wert thou all that I wish thee, great, glorious and free,
First flower of the earth, and first gem read more
Wert thou all that I wish thee, great, glorious and free,
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea.
As you can not do what you wish, you should wish what you can do.
[Lat., Quoniam id fieri read more
As you can not do what you wish, you should wish what you can do.
[Lat., Quoniam id fieri quod vis non potest
Id velis quod possis.]
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which read more
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which frugal nature lent him for an hour!
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
Every wish
Is like a prayer--with God.
Every wish
Is like a prayer--with God.
Of all complexions the culled sovereignty
Do meet, as at a fair, in her fair cheek,
Where read more
Of all complexions the culled sovereignty
Do meet, as at a fair, in her fair cheek,
Where several worthies make one dignity,
Where nothing wants that want itself doth seek.
Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.
Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.
What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
You pursue, I fly; you fly, I pursue; such is my humor. What you
wish, Dondymus, I do not read more
You pursue, I fly; you fly, I pursue; such is my humor. What you
wish, Dondymus, I do not wish, what you do not wish, I do.
