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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

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Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet.
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Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil O'er books consumed the midnight oil?
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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.
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Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine, No blood of living insect stain my line Let me, less cruel, cast the feather'd hook, With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook, Silent along the mazy margin stray, And with the fur-wrought fly delude the prey.
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Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!
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Beasts kill for hunger, men for pay.
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The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.
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To friendship every burden's light.
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Fill ev'ry glass, for wine inspires us, And fires us With courage, love and joy. Women and wine should life employ. Is there ought else on earth desirous?
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Envy is a kind of praise.
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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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Can love be controll'd by advice?
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Some folks of cider make a rout And cider's well enough no doubt When better liquors fail But wine, that's richer, better still, Ev'n wine itself (deny't who will) Must yield to nappy ale
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A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much
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Fair words cost nothing.
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Praising all alike, is praising none.
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The luxury of doing good surpasses every other personal enjoyment.
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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?
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O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed, by keeping men off, you keep them on.
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Gamesters and highwaymen are generally very good to their whores, but they are very devils to their wives.
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