Quotes from Oliver Goldsmith

The first blow is half the battle.

On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting;'Twas only that when he was off he was acting.

The land of scholars, and the nurse of arms.

The naked every day he cladWhen he put on his clothes.

And in that town a dog was found,As many dogs there be,Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,And curs of low degree.

Pity and friendship are two passions incompatible with each other.

They please, are pleas'd, they give to get esteem,Till, seeming blest, they grow to what they seem.

The dog, to gain some private ends,Went mad, and bit the man.

Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.

The very pink of perfection.

How happy he who crowns in shades like these,A youth of labor with an age of ease.

The man recover'd of the bite,The dog it was that died.

As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent whence must necessarily arise a desire of attaining knowledge with the greatest possible ease.

One writer excels at a plan or a title page, another works away the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.

He calls his extravagance, generosity; and his trusting everybody, universal benevolence.

Hope is such a bait, it covers any hook.

Man wants but little here below,Nor wants that little long.

You may all go to pot.

She was all of a muck of sweat.

Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs.

For he that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day, but he, who is in battle slain, can never rise and fight again.

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, Adorns and cheers our way And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.

Life at the greatest and best is but a froward child, that must be humored and coaxed a little till it falls asleep, and then all the care is over.

No one but a fool would measure their satisfaction by what the world thinks of it.