“An idler is a watch that wants both hands; / As useless when it goes as when it stands.”

— William Cowper, Retirement, l. 681, 1782

About William Cowper

1731 – 1800

English poet and hymnwriter, author of "The Task".

“Still ending, and beginning still.”

“The path of sorrow, and that path alone, leads to the lands where sorrow is unknown.”

“Domestic happiness, thou only bliss of Paradise that has surviv'd the fall!”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”