239 quotes
Wealth and Power are but different Names for the same thing.
Great Pompey's shade complains that we are slow,
And Scipio's ghost walks unavenged amongst us!
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
To be exempt from the passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing solitude.
The Spectator (1711)
A cheerful temper joined with innocence will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful and wit good-natured.
The Tatler (1711)
The honors of this world, what are they
But puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
To be perfectly just is an attribute in the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.
The Guardian (1713)
I will indulge my sorrows, and give way
To all the pangs and fury of despair.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most real blessings or misfortunes.
The Spectator (1711)
When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love and praise.
The Spectator (1711)
Death only closes a Man's Reputation, and determines it as good or bad.
The Spectator (1711)
Loveliest of women! heaven is in thy soul,
Beauty and virtue shine forever round thee,
Bright'ning each other! thou art all divine!
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
There is not a more unhappy being than a superannuated idol.
The Spectator (1711)
Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom.
The Tatler (1711)
The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.
Were not this desire of fame very strong, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of losing it when obtained, would be sufficient to deter a man from so vain a pursuit.
The Spectator (1711)
Oh! think what anxious moments pass between
The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods,
Oh! 'tis a dreadful interval of time,
Filled up with horror all, and big with death!
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
At the same time that I think discretion the most useful talent a man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds.
The Tatler (1711)
We are always doing something for Posterity, but I would fain see Posterity do something for us.
The Spectator (1711)
A misery is not to be measured from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer.
The Tatler (1711)
True modesty avoids everything that is criminal; false modesty everything that is unfashionable.