William Cowper Quotes

True Charity, a plant divinely nurs'd.

True Charity, a plant divinely nurs'd.

Fanaticism, the false fire of an overheated mind.

Fanaticism, the false fire of an overheated mind.

And prate and preach about what others prove,
As if the world and they were hand and glove.

And prate and preach about what others prove,
As if the world and they were hand and glove.

'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume;
And we are read more

'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume;
And we are weeds without it.

Call'd to the temple of impure delight
He that abstains, and he alone, does right.
If a read more

Call'd to the temple of impure delight
He that abstains, and he alone, does right.
If a wish wander that way, call it home;
He cannot long be safe whose wishes roam.

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching read more

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.

I venerate the man whose heart is warm,
Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life,
read more

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.

Words pregnant with celestial fire.

Words pregnant with celestial fire.

. . . Philologists, who chase
A painting syllable through time and space
Start it at home, read more

. . . Philologists, who chase
A painting syllable through time and space
Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark,
To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's Ark.

For 'tis a truth well known to most,
That whatsoever thing is lost,
We seek it, ere read more

For 'tis a truth well known to most,
That whatsoever thing is lost,
We seek it, ere it comes to light,
In every cranny but the right.