215 quotes
Quoth he, That man is sure to lose,
That fouls his hands with dirty foes;
For where no honor’s to be gain’d,
’Tis thrown away in being maintain’d.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
’Tis strange how some men’s tempers suit,
Like bawd and brandy, with dispute,
That for their own opinions stand fast,
Only to have them claw’d and canvass’d.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
To have the power to forgive,
Is empire and prerogative,
And ’tis in crowns a nobler gem,
To grant a pardon than condemn.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Too much or too little wit
Do only render th’ owner fit
For nothing, but to be undone
Much easier than if they’d none.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
And when the fight becomes a chase,
Those win the day that win the race;
And that which would not pass in fights,
Has done the feat with easy flights.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
As the ancients wisely say
Have a care o’ th’ main chance,
And look before you ere you leap;
For as you sow y’are like to reap.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Fools are stubborn in their way,
As coins are harden’d by th’ allay;
And obstinacy’s ne’er so stiff
As when ’tis in a wrong belief.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
He ne’er consider’d it as loath
To look a gift-horse in the mouth,
And very wisely would lay forth
No more upon it than ’twas worth.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Honour is like that glassy bubble,
That finds philosophers such trouble,
Whose least part crack’d, the whole does fly
And wits are crack’d to find out why.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Some have mistaken blocks and posts,
For spectres, apparitions, ghosts,
With saucer-eyes and horns; and some
Have heard the devil beat a drum.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
’Tis not now who’s stout and bold?
But who bears hunger best, and cold?
And he’s approv’d the most deserving,
Who longest can hold out at starving.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
As you sow, y’ are like to reap.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
He that has two strings t’ his bow.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
He was in logic a great critic,
Profoundly skill’d in analytic;
He could distinguish and divide
A hair ’twixt south and south-west side.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
He’d undertake to prove, by force
Of argument, a man’s no horse.
He’d prove a buzzard is no fowl,
And that a lord may be an owl,
A calf an alderman, a goose a justice,
And rooks, committeemen or trustees.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
There is a kind of physiognomy in the titles of books no less than in the faces of men, by which a skilful observer will as well know what to expect from the one as the other.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud and vain;
By this the fool commands the wise;
The noble with the base complies;
The sot assumes the role of wit,
And cowards make the base submit.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Success, the mark no mortal wit,
Or surest hand, can always hit;
For whatsoe’er we perpetrate,
We do but row—w’are steer’d by fate,
Which in success oft disinherits,
For spurious causes, noblest merits.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
’Tis the temptation of the devil
That makes all human actions evil;
For saints may do the same things by
The spirit, in sincerity,
Which other men are tempted to,
And at the devil’s instance do:
And yet the actions be contrary,
Just as the saints and wicked vary.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)
Whipping, that’s virtue’s governess,
Tutoress of arts and sciences;
That mends the gross mistakes of nature,
And puts new life into dull matter;
That lays foundation for renown,
And all the honours of the gown.
Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)