But, scarce observ'd, the knowing and the bold
Fall in the gen'ral massacre of gold.
Quotes from The Vanity of Human Wishes — Samuel Johnson
1709–1784 England
← All quotes by Samuel Johnson
14 quotes
For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
He left the name at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness she does not find.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,
No dangers fright him, and no labors tire.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
Let observation with extensive view
Survey mankind, from China to Peru.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
Here Beauty falls betray’d, despis’d, distress’d,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
An age that melts in unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modest innocence away.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
There mark what Ills the Scholar's Life assail,
Toil, Envy, Want, the Garret, and the Jail.
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)
Attribution
Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Johnson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.