“To kerke the narre from God more farre,
Has bene an old-sayd sawe;
And he that strives to touche a starre
Oft stombles at a strawe.”

— Edmund Spenser, book The Shepheardes Calender

The Shepheardes Calender, July, line 97; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

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Edmund Spenser53

English poet 1552–1599

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“To kerke the narre from God more farre,Has bene an old-sayd sawe;And he that strives to touche a starreOft stombles at a strawe.”

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Edmund Spenser53

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“To kerke the narre from God more farre,
Has bene an old-sayd sawe;
And he that strives to touche a starre
Oft stombles at a strawe.”