Top 348 Quotes & Sayings by Oliver Goldsmith - Page 4

To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.

Even children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile.

Who mix'd reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth: If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt.

Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn.

A flattering painter, who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.

Of all kinds of ambition, that which pursues poetical fame is the wildest

Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain.

Good counsel rejected returns to enrich the givers bosom.

And learn the luxury of doing good.

[T]here are depths of thousands of miles which are hidden from our inquiry. The only tidings we have from those unfathomable regions are by means of volcanoes, those burning mountains that seem to discharge their materials from the lowest abysses of the earth.

It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.

Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came, And the puff a dunce, he mistook it for fame; Till his relish grown callous, almost to displease, Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please.

Novels teach the youthful mind to sigh after happiness that never existed.

And e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, The heart distrusting asks if this be joy.

Error is ever talkative.

Good people all, with one accord, Lament for Madam Blaize, Who never wanted a good word From those who spoke her praise.

The little mind who loves itself, will wr'te and think with the vulgar; but the great mind will be bravely eccentric, and scorn the beaten road, from universal benevolence.

While Resignation gently slopes away, And all his prospects brightening to the last, His heaven commences ere the world be past.

Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog And in that town a dog was found, As many dogs there be, Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, And curs of low degree.

The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door; The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,- A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.

He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleas'd he could whistle them back.

Man little knows what calamities are beyond his patience to bear till he tries them; as in ascending the heights of ambition, which look bright from below, every step we rise shows us some new and gloomy prospect of hidden disappointment; so in our descent from the summits of pleasure, though the vale of misery below may appear, at first, dark and gloomy, yet the busy mind, still attentive to its own amusement, finds, as we descend, something to flatter and to please. Still as we approach, the darkest objects appear to brighten, and the mortal eye becomes adapted to its gloomy situation.

When we take a slight survey of the surface of our globe a thousand objects offer themselves which, though long known, yet still demand our curiosity.

And as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay, Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way.

The man recovered of the bite, The dog it was that died.

A book may be very amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity.

In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill, For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still; While words of learned length and thundering sound Amaz'd the gazing rustics rang'd around; And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew That one small head could carry all he knew.

Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high, Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye, Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired, Where graybeard mirth and smiling toil retired, Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round.

Death when unmasked shows us a friendly face and is a terror only at a distance.

Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt; It 's like sending them ruffles when wanting a shirt.

The malicious sneer is improperly called laughter.

Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, and fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.

Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies. Methinks her patient sons before me stand, Where the broad ocean leans against the land.

Our chief comforts often produce our greatest anxieties, and the increase in our possessions is but an inlet to new disquietudes.

By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd; The sports of children satisfy the child.

A night-cap deck'd his brows instead of bay,- A cap by night, a stocking all the day.

Here lies David Garrick, describe me who can, An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man.

Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind; Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote. Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining: Though equal to all things, for all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.

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.

Whatever the skill of any country may be in the sciences, it is from its excellence in polite learning alone that it must expect a character from posterity.

Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain.

Want of prudence is too frequently the want of virtue.

Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair Blest be those feasts with simple plenty crown'd, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jest or pranks, that never fail, Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale, Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good.

The way to acquire lasting esteem is not by the fewness of a writer's faults, but the greatness of his beauties, and our noblest works are generally most replete with both.

There is unspeakable pleasure attending the life of a voluntary student.

Every want that stimulates the breast becomes a source of pleasure when redressed.

But times are alter'd; trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain; Along the lawn, where scatter'd hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose.

Here let me sit in sorrow for mankind.

Aspiring beggary is wretchedness itself.

The polite of every country seem to have but one character. A gentleman of Sweden differs but little, except in trifles, from one of any other country. It is among the vulgar we are to find those distinctions which characterize a people.

Nothing is so contemptible as that affectation of wisdom, which some display, by universal incredulity.

Those who place their affections at first on trifles for amusement, will find these trifles become at last their most serious concerns.

Let observation with observant view, Observe mankind from China to Peru.

Philosophy can add to our happiness in no other manner but by diminishing our misery; it should not pretend to increase our present stock, but make us economists of what we are possessed of. Happy were we all born philosophers; all born with a talent of thus dissipating our own cares by spreading them upon all mankind.

Fancy restrained may be compared to a fountain, which plays highest by diminishing the aperture.

At night returning, every labour sped, He sits him down, the monarch of a shed; Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze; While his lov'd partner, boastful of her hoard, Displays her cleanly platter on the board.

All that philosophy can teach is to be stubborn or sullen under misfortunes.

There is probably no country so barbarous that would not disclose all it knew, if it received equivalent information; and I am apt to think that a person who was ready to give more knowledge than he received would be welcome wherever he came.

It is impossible to combat enthusiasm with reason; for though it makes a show of resistance, it soon eludes the pressure, refers you to distinctions not to be understood, and feelings which it cannot explain. A man who would endeavor to fix an enthusiast by argument might as well attempt to spread quicksilver with his finger.

Titles and mottoes to books are like escutcheons and dignities in the hands of a king. The wise sometimes condescend to accept of them; but none but a fool would imagine them of any real importance. We ought to depend upon intrinsic merit, and not the slender helps of the title.