“Abstinence is approved of God.”

Every honest miller has a golden thumb.

Harde is his heart that loveth nought In May.

What is better than wisdom? Woman. And what is better than a good woman? Nothing.

If gold rust, what then will iron do? For if a priest be foul in whom we trust/ No wonder that a common man should rust.

With empty hands men may no hauks lure.

For in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.

The fields have eyes, and the woods have ears.

Men love newfangleness.

Many a true word is spoken in jest.

He who accepts his poverty unhurt I’d say is rich although he lacked a shirt. But truly poor are they who whine and fret and covet what they cannot hope to get.

In April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower.

What’s said is said and goes upon its way Like it or not, repent it as you may.

Patience is a conquering virtue.

One shouldn’t be too inquisitive in life Either about God’s secrets or one’s wife.

In general, women desire to rule over their husbands and lovers, to be the authority above them.

The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people.

If what the heart approves conforms to proper patterns, then even if one’s desires are many, what harm would they be to good order?

My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others!

I cannot help thinking that there is something to admire in everyone, even if you do not approve of them.

The teachers at my school were quite often card-carrying members of the Labour Party and it just was not part of the culture to approve of what the government was doing.

I’ve never had anyone’s approval, so I’ve learned to live without it.

I have smuggled so many ingredients across so many borders, like shallot confit from Thailand, or a new sauce from New Orleans not approved by the FDA.

Bloodletting on my premises that I ain’t approved I take as a f***ing affront. It puts me off my feed.

Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up.