A man so various, that he seem'd to be

Not one, but all mankind's epitome;

Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,

Was everything by starts, and nothing long;

But in the course of one revolving moon

Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Absalom and Achitophel. Part i. Line 545.

Such and so various are the tastes of men.

Mark Akenside (1721-1770): Pleasures of the Imagination. Book iii. Line 567.

Virtue could see to do what virtue would

By her own radiant light, though sun and moon

Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom's self

Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude,

Where with her best nurse Contemplation

She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings,

That in the various bustle of resort

Were all-to ruffled, and sometimes impair'd.

He that has light within his own clear breast

May sit i' th' centre and enjoy bright day;

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts

Benighted walks under the midday sun.

John Milton (1608-1674): Comus. Line 373.

The earth was made so various, that the mind

Of desultory man, studious of change

And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book i. The Sofa. Line 506.

How various his employments whom the world

Calls idle, and who justly in return

Esteems that busy world an idler too!

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book iii. The Garden. Line 352.