Isaac Watts Quotes (47 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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Famous Isaac Watts Quotes

“But, children, you should never let
Such angry passions rise;
Your little hands were never made
To tear each other's eyes.”

Isaac Watts

Song 16: "Against Quarrelling and Fighting".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.”

Isaac Watts

Stanza 2.
1710s, Psalm 98 "Joy to the World!" (1719)

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

Isaac Watts

Song 28: "For the Lord's Day Evening".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Why should our garments, made to hide
Our parents' shame, provoke our pride?
The art of dress did ne'er begin,
Till Eve our mother learn'd to sin.

When first she put the covering on,
Her robe of innocence was gone;
And yet her children vainly boast
In the sad marks of glory lost.”

Isaac Watts

Song 22: "Against Pride in Clothes".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“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.”

Isaac Watts

Song 6: "Praise for the Gospel".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“A flower, when offered in the bud,
Is no vain sacrifice.”

Isaac Watts

Song 12: "The Advantages of early Religion".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

Isaac Watts Quotes about God

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

Isaac Watts

Song 4.
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
For God hath made them so;
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
For 't is their nature too.”

Isaac Watts

Song 16: "Against Quarrelling and Fighting".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.”

Isaac Watts

Song 2: "Praise for Creation and Providence".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them.”

Isaac Watts

Source: Attributed from postum publications, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 261.

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

Isaac Watts

Psalm 90 st. 1.
1710s, "Our God, our help in ages past" (1719)

“How divinely full of glory and pleasure shall that hour be when all the millions of mankind that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God shall meet together and stand around Him, with every tongue and every heart full of joy and praise! How astonishing will be the glory and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together in one common song of gratitude and love, and of everlasting thankfulness to this Redeemer! With what unknown delight, and inexpressible satisfaction, shall all that are saved from the ruins of sin and hell address the Lamb that was slain, and rejoice in His presence!”

Isaac Watts

Source: Attributed from postum publications, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 520.

Isaac Watts Quotes about flowers

“A flower may fade before 'tis noon,
And I this day may lose my breath.”

Isaac Watts

Song 13: "The Danger of Delay".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

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

Isaac Watts

Song 20: "Against Idleness and Mischief". Parodied by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Let me be dressed fine as I will,
Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.”

Isaac Watts

Song 22: "Against Pride in Clothes".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

Isaac Watts Quotes

“The wise will make their anger cool
At least before 'tis night”

Isaac Watts

Song 17: "Love between Brothers and Sisters".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,”

Isaac Watts

Stanza 1.
1710s, Psalm 98 "Joy to the World!" (1719)
Context: Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

“He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love”

Isaac Watts

Stanza 4.
1710s, Psalm 98 "Joy to the World!" (1719)
Context: He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

“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.”

Isaac Watts

Hymn 146, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

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

Isaac Watts

Song 20: "Against Idleness and Mischief".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“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.”

Isaac Watts

(1741), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule X "Avoid a dogmatical spirit".
1720s, The Improvement of the Mind (1727)

“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 own profession. Do not indulge yourselves to judge of things by the first glimpse, or a short and superficial view of them; for this will fill the mind with errors and prejudices, and give it a wrong turn and ill habit of thinking, and make much work for retraction.”

Isaac Watts

(1727), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule VII -
1720s, The Improvement of the Mind (1727)

“And he that does one fault at first
And lies to hide it, makes it two.”

Isaac Watts

Song 15. Compare: "Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie; A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby", George Herbert, The Church Porch.
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Then will I set my heart to find
Inward adornings of the mind;
Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
These are the robes of richest dress.”

Isaac Watts

Song 22: "Against Pride in Clothes".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“The compassion of Christ inclines Him to save sinners, —
the power of Christ enables Him to save sinners, — and the
promise of Christ binds Him to save sinners.
A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On Thy kind arms I fall;
Be Thou my Strength and Righteousness,
My Saviour and my All.”

Isaac Watts

Source: Attributed from postum publications, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 82.

“Once a day, especially in the early years of life and study, call yourselves to an account what new ideas, what new proposition or truth you have gained, what further confirmation of known truths, and what advances you have made in any part of knowledge; and let no day, if possible, pass away without some intellectual gain.”

Isaac Watts

Source: 1720s, The Improvement of the Mind (1727), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule IX

“From all who dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise;
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.”

Isaac Watts

Psalm 117.
1710s, "Our God, our help in ages past" (1719)

“My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.”

Isaac Watts

Source: Attributed from postum publications, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 72.

“Strange that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long!”

Isaac Watts

Hymn 19, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

“Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul;
The mind's the standard of the man.”

Isaac Watts

"False Greatness" in Horae Lyricae Book II (1706).
Compare: "I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man", Seneca, On a Happy Life (L'Estrange's Abstract), chap. i
&: "It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigour is in our immortal soul", Attributed uncertainly to Ovid
1700s

“When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.”

Isaac Watts

Hymn 65 Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

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

Isaac Watts

Song 35: "A Cradle Hymn".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

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

Isaac Watts

Hymn 63, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

“One stroke of his almighty rod
Shall send young sinners quick to hell.”

Isaac Watts

Song 13: "The Danger of Delay".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

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

Isaac Watts

An early couplet,quoted in Christian Hymn Writers,(ed Elsie Houghton) Evangelical Press of Wales, Bridgend,Wales 1982 ISBN 0 900898 66 6.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

“Fly, like a youthful hart or roe,
Over the hills where spices grow.”

Isaac Watts

Hymn 79, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

“I would not change my native land
For rich Peru with all her gold.
A nobler prize lies in my hand
Than East or Western Indies hold.”

Isaac Watts

Song 5, "Praise for Birth and Education in a Christian Land", stanza 3. Cf. Psalms 119:72 (KJV): "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Just as a tree cut down, that fell
To north, or southward, there it lies:
So man departs to heaven or hell,
Fix'd in the state wherein he dies.”

Isaac Watts

Song 10: "Solemn Thoughts of God and Death".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

“Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.”

Isaac Watts

Psalm 90 st. 5.
1710s, "Our God, our help in ages past" (1719)

“Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.”

Isaac Watts

Hymn 63, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)

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

Isaac Watts

Hymn 66, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
Attributed from postum publications, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1773)