John Dryden Quotes

Welcome, thou kind deceiver! Thou best of thieves; who, with an easy key, Dost open life, and, unperceived by us, Even steal us from ourselves.

While I am compassed round With mirth, my soul lies hid in shades of grief, Whence, like the bird of night, with half-shut eyes, She peeps, and sickens at the sight of day.

Virtue is her own reward.

Good sense and good-nature are never separated, though the ignorant world has thought otherwise. Good-nature, by which I mean beneficence and candor, is the product of right reason.

They, who would combat general authority with particular opinion, must first establish themselves a reputation of understanding better than other men.

Hushed as midnight silence.

For those whom God to ruin has design’d, He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind.

If you have lived, take thankfully the past. Make, as you can, the sweet remembrance last.

Long pains, with use of bearing, are half eased.

Blown roses hold their sweetness to the last.