Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour;
WILLIAM COWPERRemorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid, In every bosom where her nest is made, Hatched by the beams of truth, denies him rest, And proves a raging scorpion in his breast.
More William Cowper Quotes
-
-
Elegant as simplicity, and warm As ecstasy.
WILLIAM COWPER -
While truths, on which eternal things depend, can hardly find a single friend.
WILLIAM COWPER -
The cares of today are seldom those of tomorrow, and when we lie down at night we may safely say to most of our troubles, “Ye have done your worst, and we shall see you no more.”
WILLIAM COWPER -
When nations are to perish in their sins, ’tis in the Church the leprosy begins.
WILLIAM COWPER -
And natural in gesture; much impress’d Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men.
WILLIAM COWPER -
And the tear that is wiped with a little address, May be follow’d perhaps by a smile.
WILLIAM COWPER -
The only amarantine flower on earth Is virtue.
WILLIAM COWPER -
Heaven’s harmony is universal love.
WILLIAM COWPER -
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin Not color’d like his own, and having pow’r T’ enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
WILLIAM COWPER -
Reasoning at every step he treads, Man yet mistakes his way, Whilst meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray.
WILLIAM COWPER -
[My kitten’s] gambols are not to be described, and would be incredible, if they could.
WILLIAM COWPER -
Some people are more nice than wise.
WILLIAM COWPER -
But still remember, if you mean to please, To press your point with modesty and ease.
WILLIAM COWPER -
A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his creator.
WILLIAM COWPER -
Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.
WILLIAM COWPER