“No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest,
Till half mankind were like himself possess'd.”

Source: The Progress of Error (1782), Line 470.

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 "No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest, Till half mankind were like himself possess'd." by William Cowper?
William Cowper photo
William Cowper 174
(1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist 1731–1800

Related quotes

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“This man talked like he could build the barns by himself, like he could till the soil by himself. And he failed to realize that wealth is always a result of the commonwealth.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool (1967)

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“A man above thirty cannot enter into the wild visions of an enthusiastic girl.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

The London Literary Gazette, 1821-1822

Joel Barlow photo

“Why to small realms for ever rest confin'd
Our great affections, meant for all mankind.”

Joel Barlow (1754–1812) American diplomat

The Conspiracy of Kings (1792)
Context: In every clime, thy visage greets my eyes,
In every tongue thy kindred accents rise;
The thought expanding swells my heart with glee,
It finds a friend, and loves itself in thee. Say then, fraternal family divine,
Whom mutual wants and mutual aids combine,
Say from what source the dire delusion rose,
That souls like ours were ever made for foes;
Why earth's maternal bosom, where we tread,
To rear our mansions and receive our bread,
Should blush so often for the face she bore,
So long be drench'd with floods of filial gore;
Why to small realms for ever rest confin'd
Our great affections, meant for all mankind.
Though climes divide us; shall the stream or sea,
That forms a barrier 'twixt my friend and me,
Inspire the wish his peaceful state to mar,
And meet his falchion in the ranks of war? Not seas, nor climes, nor wild ambition's fire
In nations' minds could e'er the wish inspire;
Where equal rights each sober voice should guide,
No blood would stain them, and no war divide.
'Tis dark deception, 'tis the glare of state,
Man sunk in titles, lost in Small and Great;
'Tis Rank, Distinction, all the hell that springs
From those prolific monsters, Courts and Kings.

Jon Courtenay Grimwood photo
Jeanette Winterson photo
John Maynard Keynes photo
Hunter S. Thompson photo

“The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

"When War Drums Roll" (17 September 2001)
2000s
Context: The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now. The party's over, folks... [Censorship of the news] is a given in wartime, along with massive campaigns of deliberately-planted "Dis-information". That is routine behavior in Wartime — for all countries and all combatants — and it makes life difficult for people who value real news.

Emily Brontë photo
Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo

Related topics