Alexander Pope on Thanksgiving
1688–1744 England
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7 quotes
Fix'd to no spot is Happiness sincere;
'Tis nowhere to be found, or ev'rywhere;
'Tis never to be bought, but always free.
Th' unwilling gratitude of base mankind!
Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
Lie in three words,—health, peace, and competence.
Pleasures are ever in our hands or eyes;
And when in act they cease, in prospect rise.
Heaven to mankind impartial we confess,
If all are equal in their happiness;
But mutual wants this happiness increase,
All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace.
Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labor when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.
Oh happiness! our being's end and aim!
Good, Pleasure, Ease, Content! whate'er thy name;
That something still which prompts th' eternal sigh,
For which we bear to live, or dare to die.