Quote

Nor love, not 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.

John Gay

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

John Gay
Age: 47 †
Born: 1685
Born: June 30
Died: 1732
Died: December 4
Librettist
Playwright
Poet
Writer
Barnstaple
Devon
Heart
Wise
Timely
Love
Pleasure
Flies
Hours
Cheerful
Lost
Hour
Power
Honor
Give
Taste
Care
Health
Giving
Wealth

More quotes by John Gay

Image
Shall ignorance of good and ill Dare to direct the eternal will? Seek virtue, and of that possest, To Providence resign the rest.
John Gay
Image
What will not luxury taste? Earth, sea, and air, Are daily ransack'd for the bill of fare. Blood stuffed in skins is British Christians' food, And France robs marshes of the croaking brood.
John Gay
Image
I cannot raise my worth too high Of what vast consequence am I! Not of the importance you suppose, Replies a Flea upon his nose Be humble, learn thyself to scan Know, pride was never made for man.
John Gay
Image
A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much
John Gay
Image
Why is the hearse with scutcheons blazon'd round, And with the nodding plume of ostrich crown'd? No the dead know it not, nor profit gain It only serves to prove the living vain.
John Gay
Image
My lodging is on the cold ground, And hard, very hard, is my fare, But that which grieves me more Is the coldness of my dear.
John Gay
Image
I must have women - there is nothing unbends the mind like them.
John Gay
Image
Can love be controll'd by advice?
John Gay
Image
Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most?
John Gay
Image
No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who've no retreat.
John Gay
Image
Breathe soft, ye winds! ye waves, in silence sleep!
John Gay
Image
Praising all alike, is praising none.
John Gay
Image
Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise.
John Gay
Image
Lions, wolves, and vultures don't live together in herds, droves or flocks. Of all animals of prey, man is the only sociable one. Every one of us preys upon his neighbor, and yet we herd together.
John Gay
Image
[Gulliver was soon being read] from the cabinet council to the nursery.
John Gay
Image
Fair is the kingcup that in meadow blows, Fair is the daisy that beside her grows.
John Gay
Image
The careful insect 'midst his works I view, Now from the flowers exhaust the fragrant dew, With golden treasures load his little thighs, And steer his distant journey through the skies.
John Gay
Image
Music might tame and civilize wild beasts, but 'tis evident it never yet could tame and civilize musicians.
John Gay
Image
Man may escape from rope and gun Nay, some have outlived the doctor's pill: Who takes a woman must be undone, That basilisk is sure to kill. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets, So he that tastes woman, woman, woman, He that tastes woman, ruin meets.
John Gay
Image
The luxury of doing good surpasses every other personal enjoyment.
John Gay