Abstinence.

Against diseases here the strongest fence
Is the defensive virtue, abstinence.

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English lyric poet and cleric. He is known for his book of poems, "Hesperides," which includes the carpe diem poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." His works are noted for their clarity, simplicity, and musical quality. Herrick was also a vicar of Dean Prior in Devon, despite being ejected during the English Civil War and later reinstated.

Robert Herrick

English

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Laws.

Who violates the customs, hurts the health,
Not of one man, but all the commonwealth.

Robert Herrick

Pleasures Pernicious.

Where pleasures rule a kingdom, never there
Is sober virtue seen to move her sphere.

Robert Herrick

Precepts.

Good precepts we must firmly hold,
By daily learning we wax old.

Robert Herrick

Silence.

Suffer thy legs, but not thy tongue to walk:
God, the Most Wise, is sparing of His talk.

Robert Herrick

Adversity.

Love is maintain'd by wealth; when all is spent,
Adversity then breeds the discontent.

Robert Herrick

Virtue Best United.

By so much, virtue is the less,
By how much, near to singleness.

Robert Herrick