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Quotes from The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio — Ben Jonson

1572–1637 England

← All quotes by Ben Jonson

18 quotes

I loved the man and do honor his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Still may syllabes jar with time,
Still may reason war with rhyme,
Resting never!

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Those that merely talk and never think,
That live in the wild anarchy of drink.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

It is an art to have so much judgment as to apparel a lie well, to give it a good dressing.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

A cripple in the way out-travels a footman or a post out of the way.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Opinion is a light, vain, crude, and imperfect thing.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Though the most be players, some must be spectators.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

They say princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks...

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

The voice so sweet, the words so fair,
As some soft chime had stroked the air;
And, though the sound were parted thence,
Still left an echo in the sense.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

It is as great a spite to be praised in the wrong place, and by a wrong person, as can be done to a noble nature.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

A good life is a main argument.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Where dost thou careless lie,
Buried in ease and sloth?
Knowledge that sleeps, doth die;
And this security,
It is the common moth,
That eats on wits and arts, and oft destroys them both.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

I now think, Love is rather deaf, than blind,
For else it could not be,
That she,
Whom I adore so much, should so slight me,
And cast my love behind.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

I remember the players have often mentioned it as an honor to Shakespeare, that in his writing, whatsoever he penned, he never blotted out a line. My answer hath been, "Would he had blotted a thousand".

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log, dry, bald and sere:
A lily of a day,
Is fairer far, in May,
Although it fall, and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

He is a narrow-minded man, that affects a triumph in any glorious study; but to triumph in a lie, and a lie themselves have forged, is frontless. Folly often goes beyond her bounds; but Impudence knows none.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Greatness of name in the father oft-times overwhelms the son; they stand too near one another. The shadow kills the growth: so much, that we see the grandchild come more and oftener to be heir of the first.

The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Ben Jonson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.