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Stern fate and time
Will have their victims; and the best die first,
Leaving the bad still strong, though past their prime,
To curse the hopeless world they ever curs'd,
Vaunting vile deeds, and vainest of the worst.

— Ebenezer Elliott

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Fate

More quotes by Ebenezer Elliott

What is a communist? One who hath yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings:
Idler, or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork out his penny and pocket your shilling.

Epigram (1850)

Come they from Scythian wilds afar,
Our blood to spill?

Yet walk with me where hawthorns hide
The wonders of the lane.

Almighty Father! let thy lowly child,
Strong in his love of truth, be wisely bold,—
A patriot bard, by sycophants reviled,
Let him live usefully, and not die old!

Donought would have everything;
Eat the lark, and use its wing;
Sip the sweet, and be the sting:
Donought is the only King.

All Ebenezer Elliott quotes →

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.

Daniel Webster

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

John Lewis

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan

“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”

Poul Anderson The Corridors of Time (1965)

Attribution

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