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My soul, sit thou a patient looker-on;
Judge not the play before the play is done:
Her plot hath many changes; every day
Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play.

— Francis Quarles Epigram. Respice Finem (1635)

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More quotes by Francis Quarles

The next way home's the farthest way about.

Emblems (1635)

Death aims with fouler spite
At fairer marks.

Luxury is an enticing pleasure, a bastard mirth, which hath honey in her mouth, gall in her heart, and a sting in her tail.

Let the fear of a danger be a spur to prevent it: He that fears otherwise, gives advantage to the danger.

Enchiridion (1640)

Even such is man, whose glory lends
His life a blaze or two, and ends.

Hos ego versiculos (1629)

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Attribution

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