John Gay quotes
John Gay (1685–1732): English poet and playwright. The library holds 66 quotes by John Gay, drawn from Fables, The Beggar’s Opera, Rural Sports and other works. The 60 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, happiness, nature, love, family, friendship
The best-known John Gay quotes
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Those who in quarrels interpose Must often wipe a bloody nose.
Fables, Part i. The Mastiffs -
So comes a reckoning when the banquet’s o’er,—The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more.
The What d’ ye call it, Act ii. Sc. 9 -
And when a lady’s in the case, You know all other things give place.
Fables, Part i. The Hare and many Friends -
Fools, to talking ever prone, Are sure to make their follies known.
Fables, Pt. i., Fable 44 -
Fools may our scorn, not envy raise, For envy is a kind of praise.
Fables -
Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it.
My own Epitaph -
If the heart of a man is depressed with cares, The mist is dispelled when a woman appears.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 1 -
If the heart of a man is depress’d with cares, The mist is dispell’d when a woman appears.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 1 -
Cowards are cruel, but the brave Love mercy, and delight to save.
Fables, Pt. I. Fable I -
Where yet was ever found a mother Who’d give her booby for another?
Fables, Part i. The Mother, the Nurse, and the Fairy -
’Twas when the sea was roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclin’d.
The What d’ ye call it, Act ii. Sc. 8 -
The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 2 -
Brother, brother! we are both in the wrong.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 2 -
Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.
Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-eyed Susan -
From wine what sudden friendship springs!
Fables, Part ii. The Squire and his Cur -
No author ever spar’d a brother.
Fables. The Elephant and the Bookseller -
Over the hills and far away.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act i. Sc. 1 -
Superior worth your rank requires: For that, mankind reveres your sires; If you degenerate from your race, Their merits heighten your disgrace.
Fables, Pt. ii, Fable 11 -
Reproachful speech from either side The want of argument supplied: They rail, reviled; as often ends The contests of disputing friends.
Fables: Sexton and Earth Worm -
What happiness the rural maid attends, In cheerful labor while each day she spends! She gratefully receives what Heaven has sent, And, rich in poverty, enjoys content.
Rural Sports, Canto II -
With groundless fear he thus his soul deceives: What phrenzy dictates, jealousy believes.
Diome -
In beauty, faults conspicuous grow; The smallest speck is seen on snow.
Fables: Peacock, Turkey, and Goose -
In ev’ry age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.
Fables, Part i. The Rat-catcher and Cats -
Lest men suspect your tale untrue, Keep probability in view.
Fables, Part i. The Painter who pleased Nobody and Everybody -
The healthy huntsman, with a cheerful horn, Summons the dogs and greets the dappled Morn. The jocund thunder wakes the enliven’d hounds, They rouse from sleep, and answer sounds for sounds.
Rural Sports, Canto ii., Line 96 -
Is there no hope? the sick man said; The silent doctor shook his head.
Fables, Part i. The Sick Man and the Angel -
How happy could I be with either, Were t’other dear charmer away!
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The slack sail shifts from side to side, The boat, untrimm’d, admits the tide, Borne down, adrift, at random tost, The oar breaks short, the rudder’s lost.
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Nor love, nor honor, wealth, nor power, Can give the heart a cheerful hour When health is lost. Be timely wise; With health all taste of pleasure flies.
Fables, Pt. i., Fable 31 -
In every age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.
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No author ever spared a brother; Wits are gamecocks to one another.
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The charge is prepar’d, the lawyers are met, The judges all ranged,—a terrible show!
The Beggar’s Opera, Act iii. Sc. 2 -
Those who in quarrel interpose, Must often wipe a bloody nose.
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Dogmatic jargon, learn’d by heart, Trite sentences, hard terms of art, To vulgar ears seem so profound, They fancy learning in the sound.
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Soon as Aurora drives away the night, And edges eastern clouds with rosy light, The healthy huntsman, with the cheerful horn, Summons the dogs, and greets the dappled morn.
Rural Sports, Canto II -
“Is there no hope?” the sick man said. The silent doctor shook his head And took his leave with signs of sorrow, Despairing of his fee to-morrow.
The Sick Man and the Angel -
Remote from cities liv’d a swain, Unvex’d with all the cares of gain.
Fables, Pt. i., The Shepherd and the Philosopher -
Friendship, like love, is but a name, Unless to one you stint the flame.
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Alas! you know the cause too well; The salt is spilt, to me it fell.
Fables, Pt. i., Fable 37 -
The rising blushes, which her cheek o’erspread, Are opening roses in the lily’s bed.
Dione, Act ii. Sc. 3 -
Give me, kind Heaven, a private station, A mind serene for contemplation: Title and profit I resign; The post of honour shall be mine.
Fables, Part ii. The Vulture, the Sparrow, and other Birds -
At eve the ploughman leaves the task of day And, trudging homeward, whistles on the way: And the big-uddered cows with patience stand, And wait the strokings of the damsel’s hand.
Rural Sport -
How happy could I be with either, Were t’ other dear charmer away!
The Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 2 -
Let firm, well-hammer’d soles protect thy feet, Thro’ freezing snows, and rain, and soaking sleet.
Trivia, Bk. i., Line 33 -
So comes a reck’ning when the banquet’s o’er, The dreadful reck’ning, and men smile no more.
What D’ ye Call It, Act ii., Sc. 9 -
Remote from cities liv’d a swain, Unvex’d with all the cares of gain; His head was silver’d o’er with age, And long experience made him sage.
Fables, Part i. The Shepherd and the Philosopher -
His head was silver’d o’er with age, And long experience made him sage.
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How happy could I be with either, Were t’ other dear charmer away! But while ye thus tease me together, To neither a word will I say.
Beggar’s Opera, Act ii. Sc. 2 -
’Tis woman that seduces all mankind; By her we first were taught the wheedling arts.
The Beggar’s Opera, Act i. Sc. 1 -
Friendship, like love, is but a name, Unless to one you stint the flame. ’Tis thus in friendships: who depend On many, rarely find a friend.
Fables: The Hare and many Friends -
Lest men suspect your tale untrue Keep probability in view. The traveller leaping o’er those bounds, The credit of his book confounds.
The Painter who pleased Nobody and Everybody -
Who friendship with a knave hath made, Is judg’d a partner in the trade.
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’Tis thus that on the choice of friends Our good or evil name depends.
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Learning by study must be won; ’Twas ne’er entailed from son to son.
The Pack Horse and Carrier -
Learning by study must be won, ’Twas ne’er entailed from sire to son.
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’Twas when the sea was roaring With hollow blasts of wind.
The What d’ ye Call’t -
Learning by study must be won, ’Twas ne’er entail’d from son to son.
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While there is life there’s hope, he cried.
Fables, Part i. The Sick Man and the Angel -
What frenzy dictates, jealousy believes.
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Love, then, hath every bliss in store; ’Tis friendship, and ’tis something more. Each other every wish they give; Not to know love is not to live.
Plutus, Cupid, and Time
Where these quotes come from
- Fables (17 quotes)
- The Beggar’s Opera (8 quotes)
- Rural Sports (3 quotes)
- The What d’ ye call it (2 quotes)
- The Painter who pleased Nobody and Everybody (2 quotes)
- My own Epitaph (1 quote)
- Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-eyed Susan (1 quote)
- Fables. The Elephant and the Bookseller (1 quote)
Every quote comes from a public-domain edition. How the library was made .