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John Gay
62 quotes
“'Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined.”
John Gay (1685–1732) first seen 1715 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The What D'ye Call It (1715), Act II, sc. viii
“So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er,— The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more.”
John Gay (1685–1732) first seen 1715 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The What d' ye call it (1715). Compare: "The time of paying a shot in a tavern among good fellows, or Pantagruelists, is still called in France a 'quart d'heure de Rabelais,'—that is, Rabelais's quarter of an hour, when…
“My lodging is on the cold ground, And hard, very hard, is my fare, But that which grieves me more Is the coldness of my dear.”
John Gay (1685–1732) first seen 1720 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Lodging Is on the Cold Ground (1720), st. 1
“No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who’ve no retreat.”
John Gay (1685–1732) first seen 1729 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: We’ve Cheated the Parson" (song), Polly: an Opera (1729), Air 46, Act II, sc. x
“Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“Remote from cities liv'd a swain, Unvex'd with all the cares of gain; His head was silver'd o'er with age, And long experience made him sage.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whence thy learning? Hath thy toil O'er books consumed the midnight oil?”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where yet was ever found a mother Who'd give her booby for another?”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we risk no contradiction, It prompts the tongue to deal in fiction.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No author ever spar'd a brother.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In beauty faults conspicuous grow; The smallest speck is seen on snow.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A Wolf eats sheep but now and then; Ten thousands are devour'd by men. An open foe may prove a curse, but a pretend friend is worse.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In every age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who in quarrels intepose Must often wipe a bloody nose.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Envy is a kind of praise.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hate the man who builds his name On ruins of another's fame. Thus prudes, by characters o'erthrown, Imagine that they raise their own. Thus Scribblers, covetous of praise, Think slander can transplant the bays.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And when a lady's in the case, You know all other things give place.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Love, then, hath every bliss in store; 'Tis friendship, and 'tis something more. Each other every wish they give; Not to know love is not to live.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lest men suspect your tale untrue, Keep probability in view.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is there no hope? the sick man said; The silent doctor shook his head.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While there is life there's hope, he cried.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That raven on yon left-hand oak (Curse on his ill-betiding croak!) Bodes me no good.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From wine what sudden friendship springs!”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By outward show let's not be cheated; An ass should like an ass be treated.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give me, kind Heaven, a private station, A mind serene for contemplation: Title and profit I resign; The post of honour shall be mine.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure nobody can dispute mine. I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at St. Giles's. I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As we live by the Muses, it is but a Gratitude in us to encourage Poetical Merit wherever we find it. The Muses, contrary to all other Ladies, pay no Distinction to Dress, and never partially mistake the Pertness of Embroidery for Wit, nor the Modesty of Want for Dulness. Be the Author who he will, we push his Play as far as it will go. So (though you are in Want) I wish you success heartily.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Through all the Employments of Life Each Neighbour abuses his Brother; Whore and Rogue they call Husband and Wife: All Professions be-rogue one another: The Priest calls the Lawyer a Cheat, The Lawyer be-knaves the Divine: And the Statesman, because he's so great, Thinks his Trade as honest as mine.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'T is woman that seduces all mankind; By her we first were taught the wheedling arts.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Over the hills and far away.”
John Gay (1685–1732) first seen 1628 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Act I, scene i; compare: "O'er the hills and far away", D'Urfey, Pills to purge Melancholy (1628–1723).
“You know, my Dear, I never meddle in matters of Death; I always leave those Affairs to you. Women indeed are bitter bad Judges in these cases, for they are so partial to the Brave that they think every Man handsome who is going to the Camp or the Gallows.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How the mother is to be pitied who hath handsome daughters! Locks, bolts, bars, and lectures of morality are nothing to them: they break through them all. They have as much pleasure in cheating a father and mother, as in cheating at cards.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do you think your Mother and I should have liv'd comfortably so long together, if ever we had been married?”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most? There are not many husbands and wives, who can bear the charges of plaguing one another in a handsome way.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed, By keeping men off, you keep them on.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Were I laid on Greenland’s Coast, And in my Arms embrac’d my Lass; Warm amidst eternal Frost, Too soon the Half Year’s Night would pass.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Macheath: And I would love you all the day, Polly: Every night would kiss and play, Macheath: If with me you’d fondly stray Polly: Over the hills and far away.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fill ev'ry glass, for wine inspires us, And fires us With courage, love and joy. Women and wine should life employ. Is there ought else on earth desirous?”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Brother, brother! we are both in the wrong.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How happy could I be with either, Were t' other dear charmer away!”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the heart of a man is depressed with cares, The mist is dispell'd when a woman appears; Like the notes of a fiddle, she sweetly, sweetly Raises the spirits, and charms our ears.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must have women—there is nothing unbends the mind like them.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Youth's the season made for joys, Love is then our duty.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before the Barn-Door crowing, The Cock by Hens attended, His Eyes around him throwing, Stands for a while suspended: Then One he singles from the Crew, And cheers the happy Hen; With how do you do, and how do you do, And how do you do again.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man may escape from rope and gun; Nay, some have outlived the doctor's pill: Who takes a woman must be undone, That basilisk is sure to kill. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets, So he that tastes woman, woman, woman, He that tastes woman, ruin meets.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You base man you,—how can you look me in the face after what hath passed between us?—See here, perfidious wretch, how I am forc'd to bear about the load of infamy you have laid upon me— -O Macheath! thou hast robb'd me of my quiet—to see thee tortur'd would give me pleasure.”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!”
John Gay (1685–1732) said by 1732 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source