Skip to content

I would not have a slave to till my ground,
To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,
And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth
That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.

— William Cowper The Task (1785)

Another quote →

Topics

Slavery

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 →

You may also like

We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known.

Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook (1962)

What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

Abraham Lincoln

The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave.

James Connolly

The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.

Abraham Lincoln

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.