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Search not to find how other men offend,
But by that glass thy own offences mend;
Still seek to learn, yet care not much from whom,
(So it be learning) or from whence it come.
Of thy own actions, others' judgments learn;
Often by small, great matters we discern:
Youth what man's age is like to be doth show;
We may our ends by our beginnings know.

— John Denham Of Prudence (1668)

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More quotes by John Denham

Such is our pride, our folly, or our fate,
That few but such as cannot write, translate.

To Sir Richard Fanshaw (1648)

Ambition is like love, impatient
Both of delays and rivals.

The Sophy (1641)

Wisdom's first progress is to take a view
What's decent or indecent, false or true.

Of Prudence (1668)

Books should to one of these four ends conduce,
For wisdom, piety, delight, or use.

Of Prudence (1668)

Whatsoever
Is worthy of their love, is worth their anger.

The Sophy (1641)

All John Denham quotes →

Attribution

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