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O, happy they that never saw the court,
Nor ever knew great men but by report!

— John Webster

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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)

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We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known.

Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook (1962)

To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.

Confucius

Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power.

Martin Buber Between Man and Man (1965)

The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

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.