Inspirational Quotes by Isaac Watts
“Academical disputation gives vigor and briskness to the mind thus exercised, and relieves the languor of private study and meditation.”
“The Spirit is sent down to breathe On such dry bones as we. 6 Rais'd from the dead we live anew; And justify'd by grace We shall appear in glory too, And see our Father's face.”
“O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home. Under the shadow of Thy throne Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure. Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame, From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same. Thy Word commands our flesh to dust, “Return, ye sons of men”: All nations rose from earth at first, And turn to earth again. A thousand ages in Thy sight Are like an evening gone; Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun. The busy tribes of flesh and blood, With all their lives and cares, Are carried downwards by the flood, And lost in foll’wing years. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the op’ning day. Like flow’ry fields the nations stand Pleased with the morning light; The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand Lie with’ring ere ’tis night. O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be Thou our guard while troubles last, And our eternal home.”
“Then let these useless streams be stayed; wear native courage in your face.”
topics: Courage
“I would not change my blest estate for all the world calls good or great.”
topics: Contentment
“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.”
“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.”
“Were both the golden Indies mine, I'd give both Indies for a tear.”
topics: Compassion
“The child taught to believe any occurrence a good or evil omen, or any day of the week lucky, hath a wide inroad made upon the soundness of his understanding.”
“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.”
topics: Cheerfulness
“Learn good-humor, never to oppose without just reason; abate some degree of pride and moroseness.”
topics: Cheerfulness
“In common discourse we denominate persons and things according to the major part of their character; he is to be called a wise man who has but few follies.”
“Talking over the things which you have read with your companions fixes them on the mind.”
“If a book has no index or good table of contents, it is very useful to make one as you are reading it.”
topics: Books
“As a man may be eating all day, and for want of digestion is never nourished, so these endless readers may cram themselves in vain with intellectual food.”
topics: Books
“Some persons believe everything that their kindred, their parents, and their tutors believe. The veneration and the love which they have for their ancestors incline them to swallow down all their opinions at once, without examining what truth or falsehood there is in them. Men take their principles by inheritance, and defend them as they would their estates, because they are born heirs to them.”
“A hermit who has been shut up in his cell in a college has contracted a sort of mould and rust upon his soul.”
topics: Apathy
“The very substance which last week was grazing in the field, waving in the milk pail, or growing in the garden, is now become part of the man.”
topics: Animals
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Isaac Watts is recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today and have been translated into many languages.
His education led him to the pastorate of a large Independent Chapel in London, and he also found himself in the position of helping trainee preachers, despite poor health. Taking work as a private tutor, he lived with the non-conformist Hartopp family at Fleetwood House, Abney Park in Stoke Newington, and later in the household of Sir Thomas Abney and Lady Mary Abney at Theobalds, Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, and at their second residence, Abney House, Stoke Newington.
Though a non-conformist, Sir Thomas practised occasional conformity to the Church of England as necessitated by his being Lord Mayor of London 1700-01. Likewise, Isaac Watts held religious opinions that were more non-denominational or ecumenical than was at that time common for a non-conformist, having a greater interest in promoting education and scholarship, than preaching for any particular ministry.