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Envy's a sharper spur than pay.

John Gay

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John Gay
Age: 47 †
Born: 1685
Born: June 30
Died: 1732
Died: December 4
Librettist
Playwright
Poet
Writer
Barnstaple
Devon
Sharper
Spur
Spurs
Envy
Pay

More quotes by John Gay

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Fair is the kingcup that in meadow blows, Fair is the daisy that beside her grows.
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To shoot at crows is powder flung away.
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Is there no hope? the sick man said, The silent doctor shook his head, And took his leave with signs of sorrow, Despairing of his fee to-morrow.
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Envy's a sharper spur than pay: No author ever spar'd a brother Wits are gamecocks to one another.
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In every age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.
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To frame the little animal, provide All the gay hues that wait on female pride: Let Nature guide thee sometimes golden wire The shining bellies of the fly require The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail, Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail.
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Beasts kill for hunger, men for pay.
John Gay
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She who has never lov'd, has never liv'd.
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Envy is a kind of praise.
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Gamesters and highwaymen are generally very good to their whores, but they are very devils to their wives.
John Gay
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Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet.
John Gay
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Do you think your mother and I should have lived comfortably so long together, if ever we had been married? Baggage!
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The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.
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The charge is prepared the lawyers are met The judges all ranged (a terrible show!) I go, undismay'd. For death is a debt, A debt on demand. So take what I owe.
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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.
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Shall ignorance of good and ill Dare to direct the eternal will? Seek virtue, and of that possest, To Providence resign the rest.
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If the heart of a man is depressed with cares, The mist is dispelled when a woman appears.
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Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!
John Gay
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To friendship every burden's light.
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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