John Dryden

John Dryden
John Drydenwas an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668...
trust treason
Treason is greatest where trust is greatest.
life love-life mind
Pity melts the mind to love.
power want sin
Repentance is but want of power to sin.
peace war self
Such subtle Covenants shall be made,Till Peace it self is War in Masquerade.
language well-said wit
A thing well said will be wit in all languages.
men life-and-death tales
Dead men tell no tales.
dream prayer men
The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme, The young men's vision, and the old men's dream!
horse moving pride
He with a graceful pride, While his rider every hand survey'd, Sprung loose, and flew into an escapade; Not moving forward, yet with every bound Pressing, and seeming still to quit his ground.
gun self law
Self-defense is Nature's eldest law.
sweet pain pleasure
Sweet is pleasure after pain.
fall government states
Government itself at length must fall To nature's state, where all have right to all.
poetry checks priests
A satirical poet is the check of the laymen on bad priests.
drama enemy patterns
I maintain, against the enemies of the stage, that patterns of piety, decently represented, may second the precepts.
drama play vehemence
The propriety of thoughts and words, which are the hidden beauties of a play, are but confusedly judged in the vehemence of action.