To follow foolish precedents, and wink With both our eyes, is easier than to think.
Interpretation
It's easier to accept and follow the actions of others than to engage in critical thinking.
This quote suggests that people often choose to follow established norms or foolish practices without questioning them, as it requires less effort than thinking critically and making informed decisions. Cowper emphasizes the human tendency to take the easier path—blindly following rather than analyzing and understanding the rationale behind actions or beliefs.
In practice
During a team meeting, when discussing why we always follow the same procedure, one might say this quote to encourage critical analysis.
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, the mere materials with which wisdom builds, till smoothed and squared and fitted to its place, does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
This cabin, Mary, in my sight appears,_x000D_ _x000D_ Built as it has been in our waning years,_x000D_ _x000D_ A rest afforded to our weary feet,_x000D_ _x000D_ Preliminary to - the last retreat.
Strength may wield the ponderous spade, May turn the clod, and wheel the compost home; But elegance, chief grace the garden shows, And most attractive, is the fair result Of thought, the creature of a polished mind.
No wisdom that she may gain by experience and reflection hereafter, will compensate the loss of her present hilarity.
Even in the stifling bosom of the town,_x000D_ _x000D_ A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms_x000D_ _x000D_ That soothes the rich possessor; much consol'd,_x000D_ _x000D_ That here and there some sprigs of mournful mint,_x000D_ _x000D_ Or nightshade, or valerian, grace the well_x000D_ _x000D_ He cultivates.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa around, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
Example moves the world more than doctrine. The great exemplars are the poets of action, and it makes little difference whether they be forces for good or forces for evil.
A dozen times a day we come to a fork in the road and must decide which way we will go. It is important to get our ultimate objectives clearly in mind so that we do not become distracted at each fork in the road by the irrelevant questions: Which is the easier or more pleasant way? Or, Which way are others going?
Make yourself do unpleasant things so as to gain the upper hand of your soul.
Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.
It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not.
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