John Wilmot
John Wilmot
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the "spiritual authoritarianism" of the Puritan era. Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, and he is as well known for his rakish lifestyle as his poetry, although the two were often interlinked. He died at the age of 33 from venereal disease...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth1 April 1647
passion mind innocence
Love, the most generous passion of the mind The softest refuge innocence can find
men beast rochester
Man differs more from man than man from beast
men world worst
It is a very good world to live in, To lend or to spend, or to live in; but to beg or to borrow, or to get a man's own, It is the very worst world that ever was known.
sarcastic wise foolish
He never said a foolish thing nor never did a wise one.
dog animal proud
I'd be a dog, a monkey, or a bear, or anything but that vain animal who is so proud of being rational.
wish theater libertine
I wish to be moved. I cannot feel in life. I must have others do it for me in theater.
philosophy book swim
Books bear him up a while, and make him try to swim with bladders of philosophy.
men coward would-be
All men would be cowards if they could.
women farewell drinking
Farewell, woman! I intend Henceforth every night to sit With my lewd, well-natured friend, Drinking to engender wit.
wise drinking blow
Thus, statesmanlike, I'll saucily impose, And safe from action, valiantly advise; Sheltered in impotence, urge you to blows, And being good for nothing else, be wise.
kindness greatness men
To pick out the wildest and most fantastical odd man alive, and to place your kindness there, is an act so brave and daring as will show the greatness of your spirit and distinguish you in love, as you are in all things else, from womankind.
excellence faults taste
Tis a meaner part of sense to find a fault than taste an excellence.
marriage daughter mother
Mothers who force their daughters into interested marriage, are worse than the Ammonites who sacrificed their children to Moloch--the latter undergoing a speedy death, the former suffering years of torture, but too frequently leading to the same result.
passion envy shame
Envy is a passion so full of cowardice and shame that nobody ever had the confidence to own it.