Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber
Colley Cibberwas an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibberdescribes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style. He wrote 25 plays for his own company at Drury Lane, half of which were adapted from various sources, which led Robert Lowe and Alexander Pope, among others, to criticise his "miserable mutilation" of "crucified Molière hapless Shakespeare". He regarded himself as first and foremost an actor and had great...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth6 November 1671
What have I done? What horrid crime committed? To me the worst of crimes-outliv'd my liking.
Then let not what I cannot have My cheer of mind destroy. Whilst thus I sing, I am a king, Although a poor blind boy!
Possession is eleven points in the law.
A weak invention of the Enemy.
The happy have whole days, and those they choose. The unhappy have but hours, and those they lose.
We shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury of a disappointed woman; scorned, slighted, dismissed without a parting pang.
Oh! How many torments lie in the small circle of a wedding ring.
You know, one had as good be out of the world, as out of the fashion.
Banish that fear; my flame can never waste, For love sincere refines upon the taste.
So mourn'd the dame of Ephesus her love.
The happy have whole days,
Faint is the bliss, that never past thro' pain.
Oh, say! what is that thing call'd light, Which I must ne'er enjoy? What are the blessings of the sight? Oh, tell your poor blind boy!
When we are conscious of the least comparative merit in ourselves, we should take as much care to conceal the value we set upon it, as if it were a real defect; to be elated or vain upon it is showing your money before people in want.