Skip to content

Every man, as the saying is, can tame a shrew but he that hath her.

— Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Section 2, member 6, Perturbations of the mind rectified. From himself, by resisting to the utmost, confessing his grief to a friend, etc.
Work: The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621
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 Robert Burton

All places are distant from heaven alike.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

For ignorance is the mother of devotion, as all the world knows, and these times can amply witness.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

No cord nor cable can so forcibly draw, or hold so fast, as love can do with a twined thread.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

Aristotle said melancholy men of all others are most witty.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

And this is that Homer's golden chain, which reacheth down from heaven to earth, by which every creature is annexed, and depends on his Creator.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

If the world will be gulled, let it be gulled.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

From this it appears how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

Every man hath a good and a bad angel attending on him in particular, all his life long.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

All Robert Burton quotes →

More quotes by Robert Burton

The Chinese say that we Europeans have one eye, they themselves two, all the world else is blinde.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

The fear of some divine and supreme powers keeps men in obedience.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

He that will not when he may,
When he will he shall have nay.

Anatomy of a Melancholy (1621)

Every man for himself, his own ends, the Devil for all.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

As clear and as manifest as the nose in a man's face.

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)

All Robert Burton quotes →

Attribution

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