Quote#Wisdom
When my mouth shall be filled with dust, and the worm shall feed, and…
Quote byJohn Donne · 1572–1631
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: XXVI Sermons (1661), No. 26, Death's Duel, last sermon, 15 February 1631.
English (original)
When my mouth shall be filled with dust, and the worm shall feed, and feed sweetly upon me, when the ambitious man shall have no satisfaction if the poorest alive tread upon him, nor the poorest receive any contentment in being made equal to princes, for they shall be equal but in dust.
— John Donne
More from John Donne
So, of a lone unhaunted place possess’d, Did this soul’s second inn, built by the guest, This living buried man, this quiet mandrake, rest.
Great Destiny, the commissary of God.
And seeing the snail, which everywhere doth roam, Carrying his own house still, still is at home, Follow (for he is easy paced) this snail, Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy gaol.
Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls; For, thus friends absent speak.
I sing the progress of a deathless soul.
Nature’s great masterpiece, an elephant, The only harmless great thing.