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Quotes from Absalom and Achitophel — John Dryden

1631–1700 England

← All quotes by John Dryden

33 quotes

Whatever he did, was done with so much ease,
In him alone 'twas natural to please.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Bankrupt of life, yet prodigal of ease.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Not only hating David, but the king.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Resolv'd to ruin or to rule the state.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

And heaven had wanted one immortal song.
But wild ambition loves to slide, not stand,
And fortune's ice prefers to virtue's land.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

But wild Ambition loves to slide, not stand,
And Fortune's ice prefers to Virtue's land.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

So over violent, or over civil,
That every man with him was God or Devil.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Every man with him was God or devil.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

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 chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Never was patriot yet, but was a fool.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Doeg, though without knowing how or why,
Made still a blundering kind of melody;
Spurr'd boldly on, and dash'd through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in;
Free from all meaning whether good or bad,
And in one word, heroically mad.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Self-defence is nature's eldest law

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Made still a blund'ring kind of melody;
Spurred boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in.
Free from all meaning, whether good or bad,
And in one word, heroically mad.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Attribution

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