Quote#Wisdom
We idly sit, like stupid blockheads
Quote bySamuel Butler (poet) · 1612–1680
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Part III (1678).
English (original)
We idly sit, like stupid blockheads, Our hands committed to our pockets, And nothing but our tongues at large, To get the wretches a discharge: Like men condemn'd to thunder-bolts, Who, ere the blow, become mere dolts; Or fools besotted with their crimes, That know not how to shift betimes, And neither have the hearts to stay, Nor wit enough to run away.
— Samuel Butler (poet)
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