Ben Jonson Quotes

A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night, It was the plant and flower of light. In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be.

To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

Honor's a good brooch to wear in a man's hat at all times.

The poet is the nearest borderer upon the orator.

The voice so sweet, the words so fair, As some soft chime had stroked the air; And though the sound had parted thence, Still left an echo in the sense.

True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.

A good man will avoid the spot of any sin. The very aspersion is grievous, which makes him choose his way in his life, as he would in his journey.

There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.

Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine.

Success produces confidence; confidence relaxes industry, and negligence ruins the reputation which accuracy had raised.

Memory, of all the powers of the mind, is the most delicate and frail.

The pipe marks the point at which the orangutan ends and man begins.

Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back.

He who is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

Blueness doth express trueness.

Calumnies are answered best with silence.

The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.

Great honours are great burdens, but on whom They are cast with envy, he doth bear two loads.

Get money, still get money, boy, no matter by what means.

You learn nothing about someone by the way they win the fight, you learn everything about the way they lose and keep coming back.

Woman, the more careful she is about her face, the more careless about her house.

A prince without letters is a Pilot without eyes. All his government is groping.

Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame a flatterer.

Confound these ancestors... They've stolen our best ideas!

Thy praise or dispraise is to me alike; One doth not stroke me, nor the other strike.

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light Goddess, excellently bright.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

I have no urns, no dusty monuments; No broken images of ancestors, Wanting an ear, or nose; no forged tales Of long descents, to boast false honors from.

We are persons of quality, I assure you, and women of fashion, and come to see and to be seen.

No man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

Art hath an enemy called ignorance.

My thoughts and I were of another world.

Court a mistress, she denies you; let her alone, she will court you.

It is virtue that gives glory; that will endenizen a man everywhere.

It is less dishonor to hear imperfectly than to speak imperfectly. The ears are excused; the understanding is not.

To struggle when hope is banished! To live when life's salt is gone! To dwell in a dream that's vanished- To endure, and go calmly on!

Drink today, and drown all sorrow; You shall perhaps not do it tomorrow; Best, while you have it, use your breath; There is no drinking after death.

In the hope to meet Shortly again, and make our absence sweet.

Poor worms, they hiss at me, whilst I at home Can be contented to applaud myself, . . . with joy To see how plump my bags are and my barns.

Who will not judge him worthy to be robbed That sets his doors wide open to a thief, And shows the felon where his treasure lies?

Nothing is more short-lived than pride.

Good men are the stars, the planets of the ages wherein they live, and illustrate the times.

Let argument bear no unmusical sound.

If you be sick, your own thoughts make you sick

Folly often goes beyond her bounds, but impudence knows none.

Forbear, you things That stand upon the pinnacles of state, To boast your slippery height! when you do fall, You dash yourselves in pieces, ne'er to rise: And he that lends you pity, is not wise.

Many might go to heaven with half the labor they go to hell.

Language most shows a man, speak that I may see thee.

A good dog deserves a good bone.

Nor shall our cups make any guilty men; But at our parting, we will be, as when We innocently met.