Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
William Cowper Quotes
1731–1800 England
William Cowper (26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and hymnodist.
- England
- Hymnwriters
- Poets
- Translators
Also known as: Cowper, William
289 quotes
Olney Hymns (1779)
I believe no man was ever scolded out of his sins.
Olney Hymns (1779)
Men deal with life as children with their play,
Who first misuse, then cast their toys away.
An honest man, close-buttoned to the chin,
Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within.
The town is man's world, but this (country life) is of God.
The Task (1785)
Thus neither the praise nor the blame is our own.
Our love is principle, and has its root
In reason, is judicious, manly, free.
The Task (1785)
Absence of occupation is not rest,
A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
Retirement (1782)
A moral, sensible, and well-bred man
Will not affront me, and no other can.
Conversation (1782)
But strive still to be a man before your mother.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)
That good diffused may more abundant grow.
Conversation (1782)
Olney Hymns (1779)
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (1782)
Absence from whom we love is worse than death,
And frustrate hope severer than despair.
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam
Excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
The Progress of Error (1782)
Could he with reason murmur at his case,
Himself sole author of his own disgrace?
Attribution
Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Cowper (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.