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Of what is't fools make such vain keeping?
Sin their conception, their birth, weeping:
Their life, a general mist of error,
Their death, a hideous storm of terror.

— John Webster Duchess of Malfi (1623)

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More quotes by John Webster

Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright,
But look'd too near have neither heat nor light.

The White Devil (1612)

I know death hath ten thousand several doors
For men to take their exits.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle: she died young.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burn brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweethearts, are surest, and old lovers are soundest.

Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust,
Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

All John Webster quotes →

Attribution

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