John Dryden Quotes
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So softly death succeeded life in her,She did but dream of heaven, and she was there.
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Better one suffer, than a nation grieve.
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Self-defence is Nature's eldest law.
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Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
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Of seeming arms to make a short essay,Then hasten to be drunk - the business of the day.
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Wit will shineThrough the harsh cadence of a rugged line.
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Calms appear, when storms are past,Love will have its hour at last.
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… not judging truth to be in nature better than falsehood, but setting a value upon both according to interest.
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Fate, and the dooming gods, are deaf to tears.
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My next desire is, void of care and strife,To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life:A country cottage near a crystal flood,A winding valley, and a lofty wood.
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Men met each other with erected look,The steps were higher that they took;Friends to congratulate their friends made haste,And long inveterate foes saluted as they passed.
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But Shakespeare's magic could not copied be;Within that circle none durst walk but he.
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Your ignorance is the mother of your devotion to me.
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Than a successive title long and dark,Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark.
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Ill habits gather unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
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I well believe, thou wouldst be great as he;For every man's a fool to that degree:All wish the dire prerogative to kill;Ev'n they would have the power who want the will.
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Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense,But good men starve for want of impudence.
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Leave writing plays, and choose for thy commandSome peaceful province in acrostic land.There thou mayst wings display and altars raise,And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.
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The trumpet's loud clangorExcites us to arms.
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Happy the man, and happy he alone, he who can call today his own; he who, secure within, can say, tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
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O gracious God! how far have weProfaned thy heavenly gift of poesy!
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His courage foes, his friends his truth proclaim.