Beaumont and Fletcher quotes
Beaumont and Fletcher: English playwrights Francis Beaumont (1584–1616) and John Fletcher (1579–1625). The library holds 45 quotes by Beaumont and Fletcher, drawn from The Elder Brother, A King and, The Maid’s Tragedy and other works. The 45 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, death, faith, nature, grief, beauty
The best-known Beaumont and Fletcher quotes
-
There is a method in man’s wickedness,—It grows up by degrees.
A King and No King, Act v. Sc. 4 -
Nothing is thought rare Which is not new and followed; yet we know That what was worn some twenty years ago Comes into grace again.
The Noble Gentleman: Prologue -
What’s one man’s poison, signor, Is another’s meat or drink.
Love’s Cure, Act iii. Sc. 2 -
Nothing can cover his high fame but heaven; No pyramids set off his memories, But the eternal substance of his greatness,—To which I leave him.
The False One, Act ii. Sc. 1 -
Corruption is a tree, whose branches are Of an unmeasurable length: they spread Ev’rywhere; and the dew that drops from thence Hath infected some chairs and stools of authority.
Hon. Man’s For, Act iii., Sc. 3 -
Upon my burned body lie lightly, gentle earth.
The Maid’s Tragedy, Act i. Sc. 2 -
It shew’d discretion, the best part of valour.
A King and No King, Act iv. Sc. 3 -
There is no jesting with edge tools.
The Little French Lawyer, Act iv. Sc. 7 -
Our natures are like oil; compound us with anything, yet still we strive to swim upon the top.
-
There is an hour in each man’s life appointed to make his happiness, if then he seize it.
-
Calamity is man’s true touchstone.
Four Plays in One: The Triumph of Honour. Sc. 1 -
No friend’s a friend till he shall prove a friend.
-
Discretion and hard valour are the twins of honour, And, nursed together, make a conqueror; Divided, but a talker.
-
That place that does contain My books, the best companions, is to me A glorious court, where hourly I converse With the old sages and philosophers.
The Elder Brother, Act i. Sc. 2 -
Here are sand, ignoble things, Dropt from the ruined sides of kings.
On the Tombs of Westminster Abbey -
When they are young, they Are like bells rung backwards, nothing but noise and giddiness.
Wit without Money -
The fit’s upon me now! Come quickly, gentle lady; The fit’s upon me now.
Wit Without Money, Act v. Sc. 4 -
Of every noble action, the intent Is to give worth reward—vice punishment.
Captain, Act v., Sc. 5 -
We must all die! All leave ourselves, it matters not where, when, Nor how, so we die well: and can that man that does so Need lamentation for him?
Valentinian, Act iv., Sc. 4 -
There’s nothing that allays an angry mind So soon as a sweet beauty.
The Elder Brother, Act iii. Sc. 5 -
All your better deeds Shall be in water writ, but this in marble.
Philaster, Act v., Sc. 3 -
Man is his own star, and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate; Nothing to him falls early or too late.
-
Primrose, first-born child of Ver, Merry springtime’s harbinger.
The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act i. Sc. 1 -
Great things thro’ greatest hazards are achiev’d, And then they shine.
Loyal Subject, Act i., Sc. 5 -
We all are soldiers, and all venture lives; And where there is no difference in men’s worth, Titles are jests.
King or No King, Act i., Sc. 1 -
Discretion and hard valor are the twins of honor.
-
What is danger More than the weakness of our apprehensions? A poor cold part o’ th’ blood. Who takes it hold of? Cowards and wicked livers: valiant minds Were made the masters of it.
Chances -
No friend a friend until he shall prove a friend.
-
It shewed discretion, the best part of valor.
King and No King, Act iv., Sc. 3 -
Nothing is a misery, Unless our weakness apprehend it so; We cannot be more faithful to ourselves In anything that’s manly, than to make Ill-fortune as contemptible to us As it makes us to others.
-
O great corrector of enormous times, Shaker of o’er-rank states, thou grand decider Of dusty and old titles, that healest with blood The earth when it is sick, and curest the world O’ the pleurisy of people!
The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act v. Sc. 1 -
There is no man but may make his paradise.
-
Care-charming sleep, thou easer of all woes, Brother to Death, sweetly thyself dispose On this afflicted prince; fall like a cloud In gentle showers;… sing his pain Like hollow murmuring wind or silver rain.
Valentinian -
That place that does contain My books, the best companions, is to me A glorious court, where hourly I converse With the old sages and philosophers; And sometimes, for variety, I confer With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels.
The Elder Brother, Act i., Sc. 2 -
Banish all compliments but single truth.
Faithful Shepherdess -
Death hath so many doors to let out life.
The Customs of the Country, Act ii. Sc. 2 -
Kiss till the cow comes home.
Scornful Lady, Act iii. Sc. 1 -
A soul as white as heaven.
The Maid’s Tragedy, Act iv. Sc. 1 -
No better than you should be.
The Coxcomb, Act iv. Sc. 3 -
Death comes but once.
-
As cold as cucumbers.
Cupid’s Revenge, Act i. Sc. 1 -
Whistle, and she’ll come to you.
Wit Without Money, Act iv. Sc. 4 -
Beggars must be no choosers.
Scornful Lady, Act v. Sc. 3 -
Devil take the hindmost.
-
One foot in the grave.
The Little French Lawyer, Act i. Sc. 1
Where these quotes come from
- The Elder Brother (3 quotes)
- A King and (2 quotes)
- The Maid’s Tragedy (2 quotes)
- The Little French Lawyer (2 quotes)
- Wit Without Money (2 quotes)
- Valentinian (2 quotes)
- The Two Noble Kinsmen (2 quotes)
- Scornful Lady (2 quotes)
Every quote comes from a public-domain edition. How the library was made .