"There is no instance where men are so easily imposed upon, as at the time of their dying under the pretence of charity."

William Cowper Literature See all quotes by William Cowper →

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More by William Cowper

“Remorse, the fatal egg by Pleasure laid.”

“All learned, and all drunk!”

“I will venture to assert, that a just translation of any ancient poet in rhyme is impossible. No human ingenuity can be equal to the task of closing every couplet with sounds homotonous, expressing at the same time the full sense, and only the full sense of his original.”

“Riches have wings, and grandeur is a dream.”

“The son of parents pass'd into the skies.”

“That good diffused may more abundant grow.”

Resonant Thoughts

"I think that the audience for poetry has widened in recent years and maybe it's continuing to widen—I hope so. The whole poetry slam phenomenon has created an interest and widened the audience for poe…"

— Nathaniel Mackey

Literature1947

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"I have a strong admiration for the Russian people—for their bravery, their many gifts, and their kindly nature. It is the Communist dictatorship and the declared ambition of the Communist Party and th…"

— Winston Churchill

Politics1940–2010

#courage

"It would be so nice to have the luxury just to laze. So nice not to have to always get up and get dressed for some occasion. Always having to move from here to there, where everything is scheduled and…"

— Benazir Bhutto

Politics1953–2007

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"I really wish the Jews again in Judea, an independent nation, for, as I believe, the most enlightened men of it have participated in the amelioration of the philosophy of the age; once restored to an …"

— John Adams

Politics1947

#philosophy