Matthew Prior Quotes
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Cured yesterday of my disease, I died last night of my physician.
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That air and harmony of shape express,Fine by degrees, and beautifully less.
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Abra was ready ere I called her name;And though I called another, Abra came.
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For, when with beauty we can virtue join, We paint the semblance of a form divine.
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Who walks the fastest, but walks astray, is only furthest from his way.
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Venus, take my votive glass;Since I am not what I was,What from this day I shall be,Venus, let me never see.
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A Rechabite poor Will must live,And drink of Adam's ale.
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Fantastic tyrant of the amorous heart. How hard thy yoke, how cruel thy dart. Those escape your anger who refuse your sway, and those are punished most, who most obey.
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And 'tis remarkable that they talk most who have the least to say.
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Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn;And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born.
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Hope is but the dream of those who wake.
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It takes two to quarrel, but only one to end it.
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And thought the nation ne'er would thriveTill all the whores were burnt alive.
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They never taste who always drink: They always talk, who never think.
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The ends must justify the means.
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Soft peace she brings; wherever she arrivesShe builds our quiet as she forms our lives;Lays the rough paths of peevish Nature even,And opens in each heart a little heaven.
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Be to their virtue very kind; be to their faults a little blind.
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Forbear to mention what thou canst not praise.
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He ranged his tropes, and preached up patience;Backed his opinion with quotations.
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All jargon of the schools.
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They talk most who have the least to say.
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To John I owed great obligation;But John, unhappily, thought fitTo publish it to all the nation:Sure John and I are more than quit.
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From ignorance our comfort flows.The only wretched are the wise.
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Nobles and heralds, by your leave,Here lies what once was Matthew Prior;The son of Adam and of Eve:Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher?