Best 84 quotes of John Gay on MyQuotes

A rich rogue nowadays is fit company for any gentleman; and the world, my dear, hath not such a contempt for roguery as you imagine.

Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine, No blood of living insect stain my line; Let me, less cruel, cast the feather'd hook, With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook, Silent along the mazy margin stray, And with the fur-wrought fly delude the prey.

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.

Beasts kill for hunger, men for pay.

But his kiss was so sweet, and so closely he pressed, that I languished and pined till I granted the rest.

By outward show let's not be cheated; An ass should like an ass be treated.

Can love be controll'd by advice?

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?

Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.

Do you think your mother and I should have lived comfortably so long together, if ever we had been married? Baggage!

Envy is a kind of praise.

Envy's a sharper spur than pay.

Envy's a sharper spur than pay: No author ever spar'd a brother; Wits are gamecocks to one another.

Exercise thy lasting youth defends.

Fair is the kingcup that in meadow blows, Fair is the daisy that beside her grows.

Fair words cost nothing.

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?

Fill it up. I take as large draughts of liquor as I did of love. I hate a flincher in either.

Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise.

From kings to cobblers 'tis the same; Bad servants wound their masters' fame.

Gamesters and highwaymen are generally very good to their whores, but they are very devils to their wives.

Give me, kind heaven, a private station, a mind serene for contemplation.

Good housewives all the winter's rage despise, Defended by the riding-hood's disguise; Or, underneath the umbrella's oily shade, Safe through the wet on clinking pattens tread, Let Persian dames the unbrella's ribs display, To guard their beauties from the sunny ray; Or sweating slaves support the shady load, When eastern monarchs show their state abroad; Britain in winter only knows its aid, To guard from chilling showers the walking maid.

Here Shock, the pride of all his kind, is laid, Who fawned like man, but ne'er like man betrayed.

How, like a moth, the simple maid Still plays around the flame!

How happy could I be with either, Were t'other dear charmer away!

I cannot raise my worth too high; Of what vast consequence am I! "Not of the importance you suppose," Replies a Flea upon his nose; "Be humble, learn thyself to scan; Know, pride was never made for man.

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.

If the heart of a man is depressed with cares, The mist is dispelled when a woman appears.

If with me you'd fondly stray Over the hills and far away.

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.

I know you lawyers can with ease, Twist words and meanings as you please; That language, by your skill made pliant, Will bend to favour every client; That 'tis the fee directs the sense, To make out either side's pretense.

In beauty faults conspicuous grow; The smallest speck is seen on snow.

I never, with important air, In conversation overbear. . . . . My tongue within my lips I rein; For who talks much must talk in vain.

In every age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.

In love we are all fools alike.

Is there no hope? the sick man said, The silent doctor shook his head, And took his leave with signs of sorrow, Despairing of his fee to-morrow.

Lest men suspect your tale untrue, Keep probability in view.

Let firm, well hammer'd soles protect thy feet Through freezing snows, and rains, and soaking sleet; Should the big last extend the shoe too wide, Each stone will wrench the unwary step aside; The sudden turn may stretch the swelling vein, The cracking joint unhinge, or ankle sprain; And when too short the modish shoes are worn, You'll judge the seasons by your shooting corn.

Lions, wolves, and vultures don't live together in herds, droves or flocks. Of all animals of prey, man is the only sociable one. Every one of us preys upon his neighbor, and yet we herd together.

Look round, the wrecks of play behold; Estates dismember'd, mortgaged, sold! Their owners now to jails confin'd, Show equal poverty of mind.

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.

Music might tame and civilize wild beasts, but 'tis evident it never yet could tame and civilize musicians.

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.

No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who've no retreat.

Nor love, not honor, wealth nor power, can give the heart a cheerful hour when health is lost. Be timely wise; With health all taste of pleasure flies.

Of all mechanics, of all servile handycrafts-men, a gamester is the vilest. But yet, as many of the quality are of the profession, he is admitted amongst the politest company.

Of all the fools that pride can boast, A Coxcomb claims distinction most.

One common fate we both must prove; You die with envy, I with love.

One wife is too much for most husbands to bear, But two at a time there's no mortal can bear.