John Davies Quotes

1569–1626 England

Sir John Davies (baptised 16 April 1569 – 8 December 1626) was an English poet and lawyer, who became attorney general in Ireland and formulated many of the legal principles that underpinned the British Empire.

England
Lawyers
Poets
Politicians

Also known as: Davies, Sir John

Random John Davies quote

10 quotes

Much like a subtle spider which doth sit
In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide;
If aught do touch the utmost thread of it,
She feels it instantly on every side.

The Immortality of the Soul (1594)

We that acquaint ourselves with every zone,
And pass both tropics and behold the poles,
When we come home, are to ourselves unknown,
And unacquainted still with our own souls.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

Wedlock, indeed, hath oft compared been
To public feasts, where meet a public rout,—
Where they that are without would fain go in,
And they that are within would fain go out.

As spiders touched seek their webs' inmost part,
As bees in storms unto their hives return,
As blood in danger gathers to the heart,
As men seek towns when foes the country burn.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

For what made that in glory shine so long
But poets' Pens, pluckt from Archangels' wings?

I know my life's a pain and but a span,
I know my sense is mocked with everything;
And to conclude, I know myself a man,
Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

I know my soul hath power to know all things,
Yet is she blind and ignorant of all;
I know I am one of nature's little kings,
Yet to the least and vilest things am thrall.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

What can we know, or what can we discern,
When error chokes the windows of the mind,
The diverse forms of things, how can we learn,
That have been ever from our birthday blind?

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

We seek to know the moving of each sphere,
And the strange cause of th' ebbs and floods of Nile;
But of that clock within our breasts we bear,
The subtle motions we forget the while.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

Why did my parents send me to the schools
That I with knowledge might enrich my mind?
Since the desire to know first made men fools,
And did corrupt the root of all mankind.

Nosce Teipsum (1599)

Attribution

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