Isaac Watts Quotes

What bliss will fill the ransomed souls, when they in glory dwell, to see the sinner as he rolls, in quenchless flames of hell.

Whene'er I take my walks abroad,How many poor I see!What shall I render to my GodFor all his gifts to me?

Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain, Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain: But Christ, the heav'nly Lamb, Takes all our sins away, A sacrifice of nobler nam' And richer blood than they.

No science is speedily learned by the noblest genius without tuition.

No, I'll repine at death no more, But with a cheerful gasp resign To the cold dungeon of the ground These dying, withering limbs of mine. Let worms devour my wasting flesh, And crumble all my bones to dust:
My God shall raise my frame anew, At the revival of the just.

For sov'reign pow'r reign not alone,
Grace is the partner of the throne;
Thy grace and justice mighty Lord,
Shall well divide our last reward.

Fancy and humour, early and constantly indulged in, may expect an old age overrun with follies.

I write not for your farthing, but to try / How I your farthing writers, may outvie.

A dogmatical spirit inclines a man to be censorious of his neighbors. Every one of his opinions appears to him written, as it were, with sunbeams, and he grows angry that his neighbors do not see it in the same light. He is tempted to disdain his correspondents as men of low and dark understandings because they do not believe what he does.

Do not expect to arrive at certainty in every subject which you pursue. There are a hundred things wherein we mortals ... must be content with probability, where our best light and reasoning will reach no farther.

Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God and the other world.

Dear Lord. I give myself away. I've nothing else to give.

Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come / Let earth receive her King / Let every heart, prepare him room / And heaven and nature sing.

Every one of his opinions appears to himself to be written with sunbeams.

There's no repentance in the grave.

When two or three sciences are pursued at the same time if one of them be dry, as logic, let another be more entertaining, to secure the mind from weariness.

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.

So, when a raging fever burns, We shift from side to side by turns; And 't is a poor relief we gain To change the place, but keep the pain.

In books, or work, or healthful play.

The eyes of a man in the jaundice make yellow observations on everything; and the soul tinctured with any passion diffuses a false color over the appearance of things.

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.

Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for God hath made them so.

To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, Be honour, praise, and glory given By all on earth, and all in heaven.

Kind words toward those you daily meet, Kind words and actions right, Will make this life of ours most sweet, Turn darkness into night.

When general observations are drawn from so many particulars as to become certain and indisputable, these are jewels of knowledge.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all it's sons away;They fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day.

Birds in their little nests agree; And 'tis a shameful sight When children of one family Fall out, and chide, and fight.

Instructors should not only be skilful in those sciences which they teach, but have skill in the method of teaching, and patience in the practice.

The fondness we have for self furnishes another long rank of prejudices.

Preserve your conscience always soft and sensitive. If but one sin force its way into that tender part of the soul and dwell there, the road is paved for a thousand iniquities.

Death, like an overflowing stream,
Sweeps us away: our life's a dream, ...

Talking over the things which you have read with your companions fixes them on the mind.

Among all the accomplishments of youth there is none preferable to a decent and agreeable behavior among men, a modest freedom of speech, a soft and elegant manner of address, a graceful and lovely deportment, a cheerful gravity and good-humor, with a mind appearing ever serene under the ruffling accidents of human life.

The stars, that in their courses roll, Have much instruction given; But Thy good Word informs my soul How I may climb to Heaven.

Nothing tends so much to enlarge the mind as traveling.

For one drop calls another down, till we are drowned in seas of grief.

Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.

In matters of equity between man and man, our Saviour has taught us to put my neighbor in place of myself, and myself in place of my neighbor.

Prayer is a sacred and appointed means to obtain all the blessings that we want, whether they relate to this life or the life to come.

Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your profession.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Everyday is a birthday; every moment of it is new to us; we are born again, renewed for fresh work and endeavor.

It would be of great use to us to form our deliberate judgments of persons and things in the calmest and serenest hours of life, when the passions of nature are all silent, and the mind enjoys its most perfect composure.

A hermit who has been shut up in his cell in a college has contracted a sort of mould and rust upon his soul.

I would not change my native landFor rich Peru with all her gold

It was a saying of the ancients, "Truth lies in a well;" and to carry on this metaphor, we may justly say that logic does supply us with steps, whereby we may go down to reach the water.

'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain, you have waked me too soon, I must slumber again.

I love the soul that dares tread the temptations of his years beneath his youthful feet.

Do not be deceived; happiness and enjoyment do not lie in wicked ways.

The tall, the wise, the reverend head Must lie as low as ours.

What's amiss I'll strive to mend,And endure what can't be mended.

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.

A flower, when offered in the bud, is no vain sacrifice.

Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, Holy angels guard thy bed! Heavenly blessing without number Gently falling on thy head.

Our God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Our shelter from the stormy blast,And our eternal home.

How glad the heathens would have been, That worship idols, wood and stone, If they the book God had seen.

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

I have been there, and still would go; 'T is like a little heaven below.

In works of labour,
or of skill,
I would be busy, too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

At books, or work, or healthy play,
Let all my years be passed;
That I may give for every day
A good account at last.

What are the heights, and depths, and lengths, of human science, with all the boasted acquisitions of the brightest genius of mankind! Learning and science can measure the globe, can sound the depths of the sea, can compass the heavens, can mete out the distances of the sun and moon, and mark out the path of every twinkling star for many ages past, or ages to come; but they cannot acquaint us with the way of salvation from this long, this endless distress. What are all the sublime reasonings of philosophers upon the abstruse and most difficult subjects? What is the whole circle of sciences which human wit and thought can trace out and comprehend? Can they deliver us from the guilt of one sin? Can they free us from one of the terrors of the Almighty? Can they assuage the torment of a wounded spirit, or guard us from the impressions of divine indignation? Alas, they are all but trifles in comparison of this blessed Gospel, which saves us from eternal anguish and death.

It is the Gospel that teaches us the holy skill to prevent this worm of conscience from gnawing the soul, and instructs us how to kill it in the seed and first springs of it, to mortify the corruptions of the heart, to resist the temptations of Satan, and where to wash away the guilt of sin. It is this blessed Gospel that clearly discovers to us how we may guard against the fire of divine wrath, or rather how to secure our souls from becoming the fuel of it. It is this Book that teaches us to sprinkle

Academical disputation gives vigor and briskness to the mind thus exercised, and relieves the languor of private study and meditation.

To see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of a whole assembly, while the psalm is upon their lips, might even tempt a charitable observer to suspect the fervency of their inward religion.

Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks.

Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I,
To mourn, and murmur and repine,
To see the wicked placed on high,
In pride and robes of honor shine.
But oh, their end, their dreadful end,
Thy sanctuary taught me so,
On slipp'ry rocks I see them stand,
And fiery billows roll below.

There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign; Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain.

Learn good-humor, never to oppose without just reason; abate some degree of pride and moroseness.

Some have a violent and turgid manner of talking and thinking; they are always in extremes, and pronounce concerning everything in the superlative.

Logic helps us to strip off the outward disguise of things, and to behold and judge of them in their own nature.

Earth, thou great footstool of our God, who reigns on high; thou fruitful source of all our raiment, life, and food; our house, our parent, and our nurse.

Study detains the mind by the perpetual occurrence of something new, which may gratefully strike the imagination.

Do not spend the day in gathering flowers by the way side, lest night come upon you before you arrive at your journey's end, and then you will not reach it.