Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it

Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Moral Essays. Epistle ii. Line 19.

And choose an author as you choose a friend.

Earl Of Roscommon (1633-1684): Essay on Translated Verse. Line 96.

O, hell! to choose love by another's eyes.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act i. Sc. 1.

Misses! the tale that I relate

This lesson seems to carry,—

Choose not alone a proper mate,

But proper time to marry.

William Cowper (1731-1800): Pairing Time Anticipated.

Life! we 've been long together

Through pleasant and through cloudy weather;

'T is hard to part when friends are dear,—

Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear;

Then steal away, give little warning,

Choose thine own time;

Say not "Good night," but in some brighter clime

Bid me "Good morning."

Mrs Barbauld (1743-1825): Life.

Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon;

The world was all before them, where to choose

Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.

They hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow,

Through Eden took their solitary way.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book xii. Line 645.

My voice is still for war.

Gods! can a Roman senate long debate

Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?

Joseph Addison (1672-1719): Cato. Act ii. Sc. 1.