I'll be merry and free,
I'll be sad for nae-body;
If nae-body cares for me,
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I'll be merry and free,
I'll be sad for nae-body;
If nae-body cares for me,
I'll care for nae-body.

Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair.

Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair.

With more of thanks and less of thought,
I strive to make my matters meet;
To seek read more

With more of thanks and less of thought,
I strive to make my matters meet;
To seek what ancient sages sought,
Physic and food in sour and sweet,
To take what passes in good part,
And keep the hiccups from the heart.

I would do what I pleased, and doing what I pleased, I should
have my will, and having my read more

I would do what I pleased, and doing what I pleased, I should
have my will, and having my will, I should be contented; and when
one is contented, there is no more to be desired; and when there
is no more to be desired, there is an end of it.

In a cottage I live, and the cot of content,
Where a few little rooms for ambition too low,
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In a cottage I live, and the cot of content,
Where a few little rooms for ambition too low,
Are furnish'd as plain as a patriarch's tent,
With all for convenience, but nothing for show:
Like Robinson Crusoe's, both peaceful and pleasant,
By industry stor'd, like the hive of a bee;
And the peer who looks down with contempt on a peasant.
Can ne'er be look'd up to with envy by me.

Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails,
And honour sinks where commerce long prevails.

Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails,
And honour sinks where commerce long prevails.

Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd.

Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd.

Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor;
And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.

Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor;
And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.

Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content;
The quiet mind is richer than a crown;
Sweet read more

Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content;
The quiet mind is richer than a crown;
Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent;
The poor estate scorns fortune's angry frown:
Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss,
Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss.