“I would not enter on my list of friends,
(Though graced with polish'd manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.”

— William Cowper , The Task

Source: The Task (1785), Book VI, Winter Walk at Noon, Line 560.

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William Cowper 174

(1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist 1731–1800

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William Cowper 174

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