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The poorest of the sex have still an itch
To know their fortunes, equal to the rich.
The dairy-maid inquires, if she shall take
The trusty tailor, and the cook forsake.

— John Dryden

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Sixth Satire of Juvenal, line 762.
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by John Dryden

Love taught him shame, and shame, with love at strife,
Soon taught the sweet civilities of life.

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Pains of love be sweeter far
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They say everything in the world is good for something.

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When beauty fires the blood, how love exalts the mind!

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Your ignorance is the mother of your devotion to me.

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A knockdown argument: 'tis but a word and a blow.

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Whistling to keep myself from being afraid.

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This is the porcelain clay of humankind.

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Topics

Curiosity

More quotes by John Dryden

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.

Aureng-Zebe (1676)

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

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Love conquers all, and we must yield to Love.

The Works of Virgil (1697)

What passion cannot Music raise and quell?

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1687)

Whatever is, is in its causes just.

Œdipus (1679)

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Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.

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My brain, otherwise a sound instrument, has a serious defect—a hypertrophied lobe of curiosity.

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Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Dryden (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.