Quote#Nature
Whilst the misguided Follower climbs with Pain
Quote byJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester · 1647–1680
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: A Satire against Reason and Mankind (1679), ll. 16–21.
English (original)
Whilst the misguided Follower climbs with Pain, Mountains of Whimsies, heapt in his own Brain, Stumbling from Thought to Thought, falls headlong down Into Doubt's boundless Sea, where like to drown, Books bear him up a-while, and make him try To swim with Bladders of Philosophy.
— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
More from John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
He saw her lovely bosom bare, Her strawberry nipples made him stare.
Were I, who to my Cost already am One of those strange, prodigious Creatures Man, A Spirit free, to choose for my own Share, What sort of Flesh and Blood I pleas'd to wear, I'd be a Dog, a Monkey, or a Bear, Or any thing, but that vain …
When my young master's worship comes to town, From pedagogue and mother just fit free, The heir and hopes of a great famiiy; Who with strong beer and beef the country rules, And ever since the Conquest have been fools; And now, with …
The Elephant is never won with Anger, Nor must that man, who would reclaim a Lion, Take him by the teeth.
Love, the most generous passion of the mind The softest refuge innocence can find.
Reason, an Ignis fatuus of the Mind, Which leaves the light of Nature, Sense, behind.