William Shenstone
William Shenstone
William Shenstonewas an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth18 November 1714
country quality preservation
There are no persons more solicitous about the preservation of rank than those who have no rank at all. Observe the humors of a country christening, and you will find no court in Christendom so ceremonious as the quality of Brentford.
pride men would-be
Men are sometimes accused of pride, merely because their accusers would be proud themselves were they in their places.
mean men two
It is true there is nothing displays a genius, I mean a quickness of genius, more than a dispute; as two diamonds, encountering, contribute to each other's luster. But perhaps the odds is much against the man of taste in this particular.
extravagance income cascade
A large retinue upon a small income, like a large cascade upon a small stream, tends to discover its tenuity.
simple mind relax
Glory relaxes often and debilitates the mind; censure stimulates and contracts,--both to an extreme. Simple fame is, perhaps, the proper medium.
infinite jest sensible
The fund of sensible discourse is limited; that of jest and badinerie is infinite.
learning oil lamps
I trimmed my lamp, consumed the midnight oil.
prudent modesty be-careful
Let us be careful to distinguish modesty, which is ever amiable, from reserve, which is only prudent.
honesty character men
The difference there is betwixt honor and honesty seems to be chiefly the motive; the mere honest man does that from duty which the man of honor does for the sake of character.
mean people littles
The love of popularity seems little else than the love of being beloved; and is only blamable when a person aims at the affections of a people by means in appearance honest, but in their end pernicious and destructive.
heart men garden
Prudent men lock up their motives, letting familiars have a key to their hearts, as to their garden.
past praise
Theirs is the present who can praise the past.
names i-am-thankful obnoxious
I am thankful that my name in obnoxious to no pun.
years people causes
I know not whether increasing years do not cause us to esteem fewer people and to bear with more.