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
wish age pleasure
Is it that Nature, attentive to the preservation of mankind, increases our wishes to live, while she lessens our enjoyments, and as she robs the senses of every pleasure, equips imag-ination in the spoil?
law chinese rewards
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
speak virtue
We seldom speak of the virtue which we have, but much oftener of that which we lack.
volcanoes size may
A volcano may be considered as a cannon of immense size.
whales littles fishes
If you were to make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales.
hope expectations lasts
To the last moment of his breath, On hope the wretch relies; And even the pang preceding death Bids expectation rise.
winter may lap
But winter lingering chills the lap of May.
pleasure convenience fortuitous
To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives.
fall genius lines
True genius walks along a line, and, perhaps, our greatest pleasure is in seeing it so often near falling, without being ever actually down.
happiness moments ifs
If we do not find happiness in the present moment, in what shall we find it?
echoes desert cry
Amid thy desert-walks the lapwing flies, And tires their echoes with unvaried cries.
circles luxury want
The more various our artificial necessities, the wider is our circle of pleasure; for all pleasure consists in obviating necessities as they rise; luxury, therefore, as it increases our wants, increases our capacity for happiness
chains drag length
By every remove I only drag a greater length of chain.
eye pride lord
Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of humankind pass by.