Careful Words

sunbeam (n.)

A little rule, a little sway,

A sunbeam in a winter's day,

Is all the proud and mighty have

Between the cradle and the grave.

John Dyer (1700-1758): Grongar Hill. Line 88.

  Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the sunbeam.

John Milton (1608-1674): Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce.