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Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
From reveries so airy, from the toil
Of dropping buckets into empty wells,
And growing old in drawing nothing up.

— William Cowper The Task (1785)

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Wisdom

More quotes by William Cowper

Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Olney Hymns (1779)

I believe no man was ever scolded out of his sins.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Olney Hymns (1779)

Men deal with life as children with their play,
Who first misuse, then cast their toys away.

All William Cowper quotes →

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If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.

William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)

'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'

William Shakespeare As You Like It (1599)

It takes extraordinary wisdom and self-control to accept that many things have a logic we do not understand that is smarter than our own.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.

George Chapman All Fools (1605)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Cowper (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.