quote · Legacy record
Want is a bitter and hateful good, Because its virtues are not understood. Yet many things, impossible to thought, Have been, by need, to full perfection brought. Sharpness of wit, and active diligence; Prudence at once, and fortitude it gives, And, if in patience taken, mends our lives; For even that indigence that brings me low, Makes me myself, and Him above, to know.
Want is a bitter and hateful good, Because its virtues are not understood. Yet many things, impossible to thought, Have been, by need, to full perfection brought. Sharpness of wit, and active diligence; Prudence at once, and fortitude it gives, And, if in patience taken, mends our lives; For even that indigence that brings me low, Makes me myself, and Him above, to know.
Approximate author period: c. 1666 AD · renaissance
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John Dryden
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1666 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint (1631–1701)
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 651 · printed citation: Dryden · subject: WANT
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