The liberty of a people consists in being governed by laws which they have made themselves, under whatsoever form it be of government
ABRAHAM COWLEYTo be a husbandman, is but a retreat from the city; to be a philosopher, from the world; or rather, a retreat from the world, as it is man’s, into the world, as it is God’s.
More Abraham Cowley Quotes
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Gold begets in brethren hate; Gold in families debate; Gold does friendship separate; Gold does civil wars create.
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Poets by Death are conquer’d but the wit Of poets triumphs over it.
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Who lets slip fortune, her shall never find: Occasion once past by, is bald behind.
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Ah! Wretched and too solitary he who loves not his own company.
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The liberty of a private man, in being master of his own time and actions, as far as may consist with the laws of God and of his country.
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In fields d’or or d’argent; but, if heraldry were guided by reason, a plough in a field arable would be the most noble and ancient arms.”
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To-day is ours; what do we fear? To-day is ours; we have it here. Let’s treat it kindly, that it may Wish, at least, with us to stay.
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Both wise, and both delightful too. And since Love ne’er will from me flee, A mistress moderately fair, And good as Guardian angels are, Only belov’d and loving me.
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Of all ills that one endures, hope is a cheap and universal cure.
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Water and air He for the Tenor chose, Earth made the Base, the Treble Fame arose,
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When Israel was from bondage led,Led by the Almighty’s handFrom out of foreign land,The great sea beheld and fled.
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Ah, yet, e’er I descend to th’ grave, May I a small House and a large Garden have. And a few Friends, and many Books both true
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I might be master at last of a small house and a large garden, with very moderate conveniences joined to them, and there dedicate the remainder of my life to the culture of them and the study of nature.
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What shall I do to be for ever known, And make the age to come my own?
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Hope! fortune’s cheating lottery; when for one prize an hundred blanks there be!
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Enjoy the present hour, Be thankful for the past, And neither fear nor wish Th’ approaches of the last.
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Acquaintance I would have, but when it depends; not on number, but the choice of friends.
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Happy insect! what can be In happiness compared to thee? Fed with nourishment divine, The dewy morning’s gentle wine!
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Lukewarmness I account a sin, as great in love as in religion.
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Coy Nature, (which remain’d, though aged grown, A beauteous virgin still, enjoy’d by none, Nor seen unveil’d by anyone),
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Books should, not Business, entertain the Light; And Sleep, as undisturb’d as Death, the Night.
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It was not sleep that made him nod, he said, But too great weight and largeness of his head.
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Who that has reason, and his smell, Would not among roses and jasmin dwell?
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Nothing so soon the drooping spirits can raise As praises from the men, whom all men praise.
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For the whole world, without a native home, Is nothing but a prison of larger room.
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All the world’s bravery that delights our eyes is but thy several liveries.
ABRAHAM COWLEY