Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmithwas an Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield, his pastoral poem The Deserted Village, and his plays The Good-Natur'd Manand She Stoops to Conquer. He is thought to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth10 November 1730
CountryIreland
humility alive enough
With disadvantages enough to bring him to humility, a Scotsman is one of the proudest things alive.
war littles merit
You will always find that those are most apt to boast of national merit, who have little or not merit of their own to depend on . . .
needs multitudes willing
When a person has no need to borrow they find multitudes willing to lend.
men zealous zeal
I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing.
defense trouble ends
Wisdom makes a slow defense against trouble, though a sure one in the end.
sunshine clouds storm
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,- Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head.
death distance friendly
Death when unmasked shows us a friendly face and is a terror only at a distance.
life happiness needs
If frugality were established in the state, and if our expenses were laid out to meet needs rather than superfluities of life, there might be fewer wants, and even fewer pleasures, but infinitely more happiness.
happiness mind vain
Vain, very vain is my search to find; that happiness which only centers in the mind.
return giver rejected
Good counsel rejected returns to enrich the givers bosom.
love matrimony
It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.
life race ability
Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.
laughter laughing mind
The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
laughter malicious sneer
The malicious sneer is improperly called laughter.