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Oliver Goldsmith
167 quotes
“A nightcap decked his brows instead of bay, A cap by night — a stocking all the day!”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Description of an Author's Bedchamber (1760).
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Citizen of the World (1760–1761), Letter VI
“Men may be very learned, and yet very miserable; it is easy to be a deep geometrician, or a sublime astronomer, but very difficult to be a good man. I esteem, therefore, the traveller who instructs the heart, but despise him who only indulges the imagination. A man who leaves home to mend himself and others, is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to country, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is only a vagabond.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Citizen of the World (1760–1761), Letter VII.
“Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt; It's like sending them ruffles, when wanting a shirt.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Haunch of Venison (1776).
“There is no arguing with Johnson: for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1769 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From James Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), October 26, 1769.
“[To Mr. Johnson] If you were to make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From James Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), April 27, 1773.
“You may all go to pot.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1761 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Art of Poetry on a New Plan (1761), vol. ii. p. 147.
“One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title page, another works away at the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1759 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 1 (Oct. 6, 1759).
“The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1759 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 3 (Oct. 20, 1759).
“As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Good people all, with one acord, Lament for Madame Blaize, Who never wanted a good word — From those who spoke her praise.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The king himself has followed her When she has walk'd before.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As aromatic plants bestow No spicy fragrance while they grow; But crush'd or trodden to the ground, Diffuse their balmy sweets around.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That strain once more; it bids remembrance rise.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O Memory! thou fond deceiver.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To the last moment of his breath On hope the wretch relies; And e'en the pang preceding death Bids expectation rise.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, Adorns and cheers our way; And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheldt, or wandering Po.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where'er I roam, whatever realms I see, My heart untraveled fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And learn the luxury of doing good.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These little things are great to little man.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine!”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first, best country ever is, at home.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where wealth and freedom reign contentment fails, And honor sinks where commerce long prevails.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The canvas glow'd beyond ev'n Nature warm, The pregnant quarry teem'd with human form.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd; The sports of children satisfy the child.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But winter lingering chills the lap of May.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose, Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar But bind him to his native mountains more.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame, Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. Their level life is but a mouldering fire, Unquenched by want, unfanned by strong desire.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alike all ages. Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze, And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore, Has frisk'd beneath the burden of threescore.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They please, are pleased, they give to get esteem, Till, seeming blest, they grow to what they seem.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To men of other minds my fancy flies, Embosomed in the deep where Holland lies. Methinks her patient sons before me stand, Where the broad ocean leans against the land.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of humankind pass by.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The land of scholars and the nurse of arms.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For just experience tells; in every soil, That those that think must govern those that toil.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Forc'd from their homes, a melancholy train, To traverse climes beyond the western main; Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around, And Niagara stuns with thundering sound.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centers in the mind.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A book may be very amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was ever of the opinion that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single, and only talked of population.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I...chose a wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favors.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Handsome is that handsome does.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: English proverb (english)
“Let us draw upon Content for the deficiencies of fortune.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source