William Cowper > Quotes

“Variety's the very spice of life, that gives it all it's flavour.”
― William Cowper

“God moves in mysterious ways
His wonders to performs”
― William Cowper, The Poems of William Cowper

“There is in souls a sympathy with sounds:
And as the mind is pitch'd the ear is pleased
With melting airs, or martial, brisk or grave;
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies.”
― William Cowper

“Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much. Wisdom is humble that he knows not more.”
― William Cowper

“Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in.”
― William Cowper, The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper

“Satan trembles, when he sees the weakest Saint upon his knees.”
― William Cowper

“When we don't pray, we quit the fight. Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright. And Satan trembles when he sees. The weakest saint upon his knees.”
― William Cowper

“I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute,
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
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, The Poems of William Cowper

“Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God.”
― William Cowper

“But it is a sort of April-weather life that we lead in this world. A little sunshine is generally the prelude to a storm.”
― William Cowper, Letters of William Cowper: Chosen and Edited with a Memoir and a Few Notes

“Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men; wisdom in minds attentive to their own.”
― William Cowper

“The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.

So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.”
― William Cowper

“Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.”
― William Cowper

“Man disavows, and Deity disowns me;
Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;
Therefore Hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all
Bolted against me.

Hard lot! encompassed with a thousand dangers,
Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors,
I'm called, if vanquished, to receive a sentence
Worse than Abiram's.

Him the vindictive rod of angry Justice
Sent quick and howling to the centre headlong;
I, fed with judgement, in a fleshy tomb, am
Buried above ground.”
― William Cowper, Poetical Works of William Cowper

“The darkest day if you live till tomorrow will have past away.”
― William Cowper

“Grief is itself a medicine.”
― William Cowper

“In a fleshy tomb I am buried above ground.”
― William Cowper

“Still ending, and beginning still!”
― William Cowper

“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

“How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude!
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper, Solitude is sweet.”
― William Cowper, The Poems of William Cowper ...

“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

“The good we never miss we rarely prize”
― William Cowper, Selected Poems

“Assail'd by scandal and the tongue of strife,
His only answer was, a blameless life.”
― William Cowper

“Books are not seldom talismans and spells.”
― William Cowper, The Task and Other Poems

“Sends Nature forth the daughter of the skies... To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.”
― William Cowper

“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.”
― William Cowper

“The tide of life, swift always in its course,
May run in cities with a brisker force,
But nowhere with a current so serene,
Or half so clear, as in the rural scene.”
― William Cowper

“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.”
― William Cowper, Light Shining out of Darkness

“Their tameness is shocking to me.”
― William Cowper

“Happy the bard, (if that fair name belong
To him that blends no fable with his song)
Whose lines uniting, by an honest art,
The faithful monitors and poets part,
Seek to delight, that they may mend mankind,
And while they captivate, inform the mind.
Still happier, if he till a thankful soil,
And fruit reward his honorable toil:
But happier far who comfort those that wait
To hear plain truth at Judah's hallow'd gate”
― William Cowper