“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)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The tall, the wise, the reverend head Must lie as low as ours." by Isaac Watts?
Isaac Watts photo
Isaac Watts 47
English hymnwriter, theologian and logician 1674–1748

Related quotes

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“The old laws of England — they
Whose reverend heads with age are gray,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo — Liberty!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Romantic poet

St. 82
(1819)

David Bowie photo

“How many times does an angel fall?
How many people lie instead of talking tall?”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

"Blackstar"
Song lyrics, Blackstar (2016)
Context: Something happened on the day he died
Spirit rose a metre and stepped aside
Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried
(I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar) How many times does an angel fall?
How many people lie instead of talking tall?
He trod on sacred ground, he cried loud into the crowd
(I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar, I’m not a gangster)

Karen Marie Moning photo

“The most confused we ever get is when we're trying to convince our heads of something our heart knows is a lie.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author
Albert Finney photo

“I don't think that we necessarily lie. I mean, we make our living by pretending that we're someone else. I don't tell tall tales. I always tell the truth.”

Albert Finney (1936–2019) English actor

Reply when asked if he thought he was a lot like the character he plays in Big Fish in an interview with Paul Fischer at Dark Horizons (2 December 2003).

T.S. Eliot photo

“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author
W. Somerset Maugham photo

“If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie.”

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British playwright, novelist, short story writer

"1901", p. 76. Sometimes misquoted as "If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing". Sometimes misattributed to Bertrand Russell or Anatole France
A Writer's Notebook (1946)

Bertrand Russell photo

“ If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

W. Somerset Maugham, A Writer's Notebook (1949), entry for 1901
Sometimes misquoted as "If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
Sometimes misattributed to Anatole France
Note that Russell does say something similar in Marriage and Morals (1929): "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."
Misattributed

William Henry Davies photo

“The collier's wife had four tall sons
Brought from the pit's mouth dead,
And crushed from foot to head”

William Henry Davies (1871–1940) British poet

The Collier's Wife.

Richard Feynman photo

“Einstein was a giant. His head was in the clouds, but his feet were on the ground. But those of us who are not that tall have to choose!”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

recalled by Carver Mead in Collective Electrodynamics: Quantum Foundations of Electromagnetism (2002), p. xix

“I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But despite all of the dangers and difficult judgements that lie ahead, burying our head in the sand is not an option.”

Jo Cox (1974–2016) UK politician

Jo Cox: Syria is not Iraq – we must take action now http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/jo-cox-syria-is-not-iraq-we-must-take-action-now-1-7453039 (10 September 2015)
Context: I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But despite all of the dangers and difficult judgements that lie ahead, burying our head in the sand is not an option. We must face up to this crisis and do all that we can to resolve it.

Related topics