Oliver Goldsmith quotes
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774): Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician. The library holds 363 quotes by Oliver Goldsmith, drawn from The Deserted Village, The Traveller, The Vicar of Wakefield and other works. The 60 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, happiness, money, love, nature, time
The best-known Oliver Goldsmith quotes
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Creation’s heir, the world, the world is mine!
The Traveller, Line 50 -
Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.
The Hermit, Chap. viii. Stanza 8 -
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.
The Deserted Village, Line 189 -
Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centres in the mind.
The Traveller, Line 423 -
When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy? What art can wash her guilt away?
The Hermit. On Woman, Chap. xxiv -
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
The Traveller, Line 386 -
Such is the patriot’s boast, where’er we roam,—His first, best country ever is at home.
The Traveller, Line 73 -
Handsome is that handsome does.
Vicar of Wakefield, Chap. i -
A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year.
The Deserted Village, Line 141 -
Alike all ages. Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze, And the gay grandsire, skill’d in gestic lore, Has frisk’d beneath the burden of threescore.
The Traveller, Line 251 -
So the loud torrent and the whirlwind’s roar But bind him to his native mountains more.
The Traveller, Line 217 -
The dog, to gain his private ends, Went mad, and bit the man.
Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog -
As aromatic plants bestow No spicy fragrance while they grow; But crush’d or trodden to the ground, Diffuse their balmy sweets around.
The Captivity, Act i -
A flattering painter, who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.
Retaliation, Line 63 -
Where village statesmen talk’d with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round.
The Deserted Village, Line 223 -
To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.
The Deserted Village, Line 253 -
Blest be those feasts, with simple plenty crowned, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale.
The Traveller -
Even children follow’d with endearing wile, And pluck’d his gown, to share the good man’s smile.
The Deserted Village, Line 183 -
By sports like these are all their cares beguil’d; The sports of children satisfy the child.
The Traveller, Line 153 -
For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.
The Art of Poetry on a New Plan (1761). Vol. ii. p. 147 -
He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleas’d he could whistle them back.
Retaliation, Line 107 -
Where wealth and freedom reign contentment fails, And honour sinks where commerce long prevails.
The Traveller, Line 91 -
Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began.
The Deserted Village, Line 161 -
Embosom’d in the deep where Holland lies. Methinks her patient sons before me stand, Where the broad ocean leans against the land.
The Traveller, Line 282 -
People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.
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On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting; ’Twas only that when he was off he was acting.
Retaliation, Line 101 -
The land of scholars and the nurse of arms.
The Traveller, Line 356 -
Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.
The Deserted Village, Line 1 -
Measures, not men, have always been my mark.
The Good-Natured Man, Act ii -
In all the silent manliness of grief.
The Deserted Village, Line 384 -
For just experience tells, in every soil, That those that think must govern those that toil.
The Traveller, Line 372 -
Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent it seldom has justice enough to accuse.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
To what happy accident is it that we owe so unexpected a visit?
The Hermit, Chap. xix -
That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
Wisdom makes a slow defence against trouble, though at last a sure one.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
Men should be prized, not for their exemption from fault, but the size of those virtues they are possessed of.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
A night-cap deck’d his brows instead of bay,—A cap by night, a stocking all the day.
Description of an Author’s Bed-chamber -
Unequal combinations are always disadvantageous to the weaker side.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
They would talk of nothing but high life, and high-lived company, with other fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.
The Hermit, Chap. ix -
Man little knows what calamities are beyond his patience to bear till he tries them.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
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The ignorant peasant without fault is greater than the philosopher with many.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
We never reflect on the man we love without exulting in our choice; while he who has bound us to him by benefits alone rises to our idea as a person to whom we have, in some measure, forfeited our freedom.
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Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues.
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The greatest object in the universe, says a certain philosopher, is a good man struggling with adversity; yet there is a still greater, which is the good man that comes to relieve it.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
The fortunate circumstances of our lives are generally found at last to be of our own producing.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
The pain which conscience gives the man who has already done wrong is soon got over. Conscience is a coward; and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent, it seldom has justice enough to accuse.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
I find you want me to furnish you with argument and intellect too.
Vicar of Wakefield, Chap. vii -
I love everything that’s old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.
She Stoops to Conquer, Act i -
They are as heaven made them, handsome enough if they be good enough; for handsome is that handsome does.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours.
Vicar of Wakefield, Chap. i -
Ceremonies are different in every country; but true politeness is everywhere the same.
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Honours to one in my situation are something like ruffles to a man that wants a shirt.
Of himself -
The hours that we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowned with fruition.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
The first fault is the child of simplicity, but every other the offspring of guilt.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
It has been a thousand times observed, and I must observe it once more, that the hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowned with fruition.
The Hermit, Chap. x -
Man’s own heart must be ever given to gain that of another.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
The hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowned with fruition. In the first instance, we cook the dish to our own appetite; in the latter, nature cooks it for us.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
Mortifications are often more painful than real calamities.
The Vicar of Wakefield -
Good people all, with one accord, Lament for Madam Blaize, Who never wanted a good word From those who spoke her praise.
Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize
Where these quotes come from
- The Deserted Village (35 quotes)
- The Traveller (23 quotes)
- The Vicar of Wakefield (18 quotes)
- Retaliation (15 quotes)
- The Hermit (9 quotes)
- Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog (5 quotes)
- The Captivity (5 quotes)
- She Stoops to Conquer (5 quotes)
Every quote comes from a public-domain edition. How the library was made .