“Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.”
- William Alexander
“The deepest rivers make least din, The silent soule doth most abound in care.”
“The white sail of his soul has rounded the promontory - death.”
“Yet with great toil all that I can attain by long experience, and in learned schools, is for to know my knowledge is but vain, and those that think them wise, are greatest fools.”
“O if thou knew'st how thou thyself dost harm, And dost prejudge thy bliss, and spoil my rest; Then thou would'st melt the ice out of thy breast And thy relenting heart would kindly warm.”
“Death is the port where all may refuge find, The end of labor, entry into rest; Death hath the bounds of misery confin'd Whose sanctuary shrouds affliction best.”
“Though all things do to harm him what they can, No greater en'my to himself than man.”
“Those whose cruelty makes many mourn Do by the fires, which they first kindle, burn.”
“A pilot's part in calms cannot be spy'd, In dangerous times true worth is only tri'd.”
“Yet all that I have learn'd (hugh toyles now past) By long experience, and in famous schooles, Is but to know my ignorance at last, Who think themselves most wise are greatest fools.”
“And while they live, we see their glorious actions Oft wrested to the worst; and all their life Is but a stage of endless toil and strife, Of torments, uproars, mutinies, and factions; They rise with fear, and lie with danger down; Huge are the cares that wait upon the crown.”
“This self-conceit is a most dangerous shelf Where many have made shipwreck unawares; He who doth trust too much unto himself Can never fail to fall in many snares.”