quote · Legacy record
Some, for fear of want, Want all their lives; and others ev’ry day, For fear of dying, suffer worse than death. Ah! from your bosoms banish if you can That fatal guest, I mean the demon fear, That trembles at impossible events, Lest aged Atlas should resign his load, And Heaven’s eternal battlements rush down. Is there an evil worse than fear itself? And what avails it, that indulgent Heav’n From mortal eyes has wrapt the woes to come, If we, ingenious to torment ourselves, Grow pale at hideous fictions of our own? Enjoy the present, nor with needless cares Of what may spring from blind Misfortune’s womb Appal the surest hour that life bestows; Serene and master of yourself, prepare For what may come, and leave the rest to heaven.
Some, for fear of want, Want all their lives; and others ev’ry day, For fear of dying, suffer worse than death. Ah! from your bosoms banish if you can That fatal guest, I mean the demon fear, That trembles at impossible events, Lest aged Atlas should resign his load, And Heaven’s eternal battlements rush down. Is there an evil worse than fear itself? And what avails it, that indulgent Heav’n From mortal eyes has wrapt the woes to come, If we, ingenious to torment ourselves, Grow pale at hideous fictions of our own? Enjoy the present, nor with needless cares Of what may spring from blind Misfortune’s womb Appal the surest hour that life bestows; Serene and master of yourself, prepare For what may come, and leave the rest to heaven.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Armstrong (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
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- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 221 · printed citation: Armstrong · subject: FEAR
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.