Search then the ruling passion; there alone,
The wild are constant, and the cunning known;
The fool read more

Search then the ruling passion; there alone,
The wild are constant, and the cunning known;
The fool consistent, and the false sincere;
Priests, princes, women, no dissemblers here.

The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;
So calm are we when passions are no more!

The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;
So calm are we when passions are no more!

Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.
These are read more

Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.
These are portents; but yet I hope, I hope,
They do not point on me.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.

Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently. For in the very read more

Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently. For in the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.

Passion is the mob of the man, that commits a riot upon his reason.

Passion is the mob of the man, that commits a riot upon his reason.

If we resist our passions it is more from their weakness than
from our strength.

If we resist our passions it is more from their weakness than
from our strength.

And you, brave Cobham! to the latest breath
Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death.

And you, brave Cobham! to the latest breath
Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death.

Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever.

Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever.