Isaac Watts Quotes
1674 - 1748
More Isaac Watts Quotes
When I survey the wondrous cross On which the prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Isaac Watts— 1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs,'Crucifixion to theWorld, by the Cross of Christ'.
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Isaac Watts— 1719 The Psalms of David Imitated, Psalm 72.
From all who dwell below the skiesLet the Creator's praise arise;Let the Redeemer's name be sungThrough every land, by every tongue.
Isaac Watts— Psalm 117.
Maintain a constant watch at all times against a dogmatical spirit: fix not your assent to any proposition in a firm and unalterable manner, till you have some firm and unalterable ground for it, and till you have arrived at some clear and sure evidence.
Isaac Watts— Improvement of the Mind (1741), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule X "Avoid a dogmatical spirit".
Fly, like a youthful hart or roe,Over the hills where spices grow.
Isaac Watts— Hymn 79, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I.
And while the lamp holds out to burn,The vilest sinner may return.
Isaac Watts— Hymn 88, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I.
'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,"You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."
Isaac Watts— "The Sluggard".
To God the Father, God the Son,And God the Spirit, Three in One,Be honour, praise, and glory givenBy all on earth, and all in heaven.
Isaac Watts— Doxology.
I write not for your farthing, but to try / How I your farthing writers, may outvie.
Isaac Watts— An early couplet,quoted in Christian Hymn Writers,(ed Elsie Houghton) Evangelical Press of Wales, Bridgend,Wales 1982 ISBN 0 900898 66 6.
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;Let earth receive her King.Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,And heav'n and nature sing,And heaven and nature sing,And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Isaac Watts— Stanza 1.
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy.
Isaac Watts— "Joy to the World", Stanza 2.
Lord, I ascribe it to thy grace,And not to chance as others do,That I was born of Christian race,And not a Heathen, or a Jew.
Isaac Watts— Song 6: "Praise for the Gospel".
Just as a tree cut down, that fellTo north, or southward, there it lies:So man departs to heaven or hell,Fix'd in the state wherein he dies.
Isaac Watts— Song 10: "Solemn Thoughts of God and Death".
A flower, when offered in the bud,Is no vain sacrifice.
Isaac Watts— Song 12.
A flower may fade before 'tis noon,And I this day may lose my breath.
Isaac Watts— Song 13: "The Danger of Delay".
One stroke of his almighty rodShall send young sinners quick to hell.
Isaac Watts— Song 13: "The Danger of Delay".
How doth the little busy beeImprove each shining hour,And gather honey all the dayFrom every opening flower!
Isaac Watts— Song 20: "Against Idleness and Mischief". Parodied by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
In works of labour or of skillI would be busy too:For Satan finds some mischief stillFor idle hands to do.
Isaac Watts— Song 20: "Against Idleness and Mischief".
Let me be dressed fine as I will,Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.
Isaac Watts— Song 22: "Against Pride in Clothes".
I have been there, and still would go;'T is like a little heaven below.
Isaac Watts— Song 28.
Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber, holy angels guard thy bed! Heavenly blessings without number, gently falling on thy head.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, A Cradle Hymn.
Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Funeral Thoughts, Book II, Volume IX. Hymn 63.
Let dogs delight to bark and bite, For God hath made them so; Let bears and lions growl and fight, For 'tis their nature too.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Against Quarrelling.
But children you should never let Such angry passions rise, Your little hands were never made To tear each other's eyes.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Against Quarrelling.
What heavy guilt upon him lies! How cursed is his name! The ravens shall pick out his eyes, And eagles eat the same.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Obedience.
Reason is the glory of human nature, and one of the chief eminences whereby we are raised above our fellow-creatures, the brutes, in this lower world.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Logic: or The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry after Truth (1724), Introduction
How fine has the day been! how bright was the sun, How lovely and joyful the course that he run! Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun, And there followed some droppings of rain: But now the fair traveller's come to the west, His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best; He paints the skies gay as he sinks to his rest, And foretells a bright rising again.
Isaac Watts— Moral Songs, A Summer Evening.
I have been there, and still would go; 'Tis like a little heaven below.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Divine Songs, 28
There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign; Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain.
Isaac Watts— Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II. 66
