Francis Quarles Quotes

My soul, the seas are rough, and thou a stranger In these false coasts; O keep aloof; there's danger; Cast forth thy plummet; see, a rock appears; Thy ships want sea-room; make it with thy tears.

Heav'n is not always got by running.

The goods we spend we keep; and what we save We lose; and only what we lose we have.

No labor is hard, no time is long, wherein the glory of eternity is the mark we level at.

God's pleasure is at the end of our prayers.

If thou hast no inferiors, have patience awhile, and thou shalt have no superiors. The grave requires no marshal.

Afflictions clarify the soul; And like hard masters, give more hard directions, Tutoring the non-age of uncurbed affections.

Though virtue give a ragged livery, she gives a golden cognizance; if her service make thee poor, blush not. Thy poverty may disadvantage thee, but not dishonor thee.

If virtue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise; if vice associate it, it is the soul's purgatory.

The way to bliss lies not on beds of down, And he that had no cross deserves no crown.

Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greater part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true.

And what's a life? - a weary pilgrimage, Whose glory in one day doth fill the stage With childhood, manhood, and decrepit age.

The voice of humility is God's music, and the silence of humility is God's rhetoric.

Necessity of action takes away the fear of the act, and makes bold resolution the favorite of fortune.

Charity feeds the poor, so does pride; charity builds an hospital, so does pride. In this they differ: charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man.

As all things eternal and primordial reappear, so all things mortal return to the earth. Honor, old age, probity, justice, constance, virtue, and gentleness are all gathered into the cold tomb.

A lamb appears a lion, and we fear Each bush we see's a bear.

I'll ne'er distrust my God for cloth and bread while lilies flourish and the raven 's fed.

Blessedness is promised to the peacemaker, not to the conqueror.

If thou be rich, strive to command thy money, lest it command thee.

Before thou reprehend another, take heed thou art not culpable in what thou goest about to reprehend. He that cleanses a blot with blotted fingers makes a greater blur.

Other vices make their own way; this makes way for all vices. He that is a drunkard is qualified for all vice.

Afflictions clarify the soul.

He that discovers himself, till he hath made himself master of his desires, lays himself open to his own ruin, and makes himself prisoner to his own tongue.

That action is not warrantable which either fears to ask the divine blessing on its performance, or having succeeded, does not come with thanksgiving to God for its success.

Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.

I see no virtue where I smell no sweat.

If thy daughter marry well, thou hast found a son; if not, thou hast lost a daughter.

What treasures here do Mammon's sons behold! Yet know that all that which glitters is not gold.

Heaven is never deaf but when man's heart is dumb.

As there is no worldly gain without some loss, so there is no worldly loss without some gain.... Set the allowance against the loss, and thou shalt find no loss great.

Nor fire, nor rocks, can stop our furious minds, Nor waves, nor winds.

Our God and Souldiers we alike adore,Evn at the Brink of danger; not before:After deliverance, both alike required;Our Gods forgotten, and our Souldiers slighted.

Make thy recreation servant to thy business, lest thou become a slave to thy recreation.

Borrow neither money nor time from your neighbor; both are of equal value.

Nothing is more pleasing to God than an open hand, and a closed mouth.

Let grace conduct thee to the paths of peace.

Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Mark, how the ready hands of Death prepare: His bow is bent, and he hath notch'd his dart; He aims, he levels at thy slumb'ring heart: The wound is posting, O be wise, beware.

It is no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon; happy is he that hath lived long enough to die well.

When two agree in their desire, One sparke will set them both on fire.

Sweet Phosphor, bring the dayWhose conquering rayMay chase these fogs;Sweet Phosphor, bring the day!Sweet Phosphor, bring the day!Light will repayThe wrongs of night;Sweet Phosphor, bring the day!

The world's an Inn; and I her guest.

It is the lot of man but once to die.

The slender debt to Nature's quickly paid,Discharged, perchance, with greater ease than made.

Think not thy love to God merits God's love to thee; His acceptance of thy duty crowns His own gifts in thee; man's love to God is nothing but a faint reflection of God's love to man.

The way to subject all things to thyself is to subject thyself to reason; thou shalt govern many, if reason govern thee. Wouldst thou be crowned the monarch of a little world? command thyself.

Poor thieves in halters we behold; And great thieves in their chains of gold.

The next way home's the farthest way about.

He that begins to live, begins to die.