Domestic happiness, thou only bliss

Of Paradise that has survived the fall!

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 41.

How small of all that human hearts endure,

That part which laws or kings can cause or cure!

Still to ourselves in every place consigned,

Our own felicity we make or find.

With secret course, which no loud storms annoy,

Glides the smooth current of domestic joy.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): Lines added to Goldsmith's Traveller.