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What avails it that indulgent Heaven
From mortal eyes has wrapt the woes to come,
If we, ingenious to torment ourselves,
Grow pale at hideous fictions of our own?
Enjoy the present; nor with needless cares
Of what may spring from blind misfortune’s womb,
Appal the surest hour that life bestows.
Serene, and master of yourself, prepare
For what may come; and leave the rest to Heaven.

— John Armstrong Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)

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More quotes by John Armstrong

This restless world
Is full of chances, which by habit's power
To learn to bear is easier than to shun.

The Art of Preserving Health (1744)

'Tis not for mortals always to be blest.

The Art of Preserving Health (1744)

Music exalts each joy, allays each grief,
Expels diseases, softens every pain,
Subdues the rage of poison, and the plague.

The Art of Preserving Health (1744)

Of right and wrong he taught
Truths as refined as ever Athens heard;
And (strange to tell) he practis'd what he preach'd.

The Art of Preserving Health (1744)

Our greatest good, and what we least can spare,
Is hope: the last of all our evils, fear.

Art of Preserving Health (1744)

All John Armstrong quotes →

Attribution

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