John Dryden
John Dryden
John Drydenwas an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668...
iron may leisure
We must beat the iron while it is hot, but we may polish it at leisure.
men wind water
A good conscience is a port which is landlocked on every side, where no winds can possibly invade. There a man may not only see his own image, but that of his Maker, clearly reflected from the undisturbed waters.
good-life mean use
Affability, mildness, tenderness, and a word which I would fain bring back to its original signification of virtue,--I mean good-nature,--are of daily use; they are the bread of mankind and staff of life.
freedom land sole
Freedom which in no other land will thrive, Freedom an English subject's sole prerogative.
light giving suffering
Light sufferings give us leisure to complain.
truth saws telling-the-truth
I never saw any good that came of telling truth.
joy watches youth
Youth should watch joys and shoot them as they fly.
coquette plight vow
New vows to plight, and plighted vows to break.
spring heart fate
What I have left is from my native spring; I've still a heart that swells, in scorn of fate, And lifts me to my banks.
giving grace diction
There is an inimitable grace in Virgil's words, and in them principally consists that beauty which gives so inexpressible a pleasure to him who best understands their force. This diction of his, I must once again say, is never to be copied; and since it cannot, he will appear but lame in the best translation.
freedom men law
I am as free as nature first made man, Ere the base laws of servitude began, When wild in woods the noble savage ran.
grief felt assured
Griefs assured are felt before they come.
wise dice fortune
Fortune confounds the wise, And when they least expect it turns the dice.
trust confidence secret
He who trusts secrets to a servant makes him his master