Quote

Envy's a sharper spur than pay: No author ever spar'd a brother Wits are gamecocks to one another.

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
Spurs
Wit
Author
Envy
Spar
Brother
Sharper
Pay
Authorship
Another
Spur
Ever
Wits

More quotes by John Gay

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She who has never lov'd, has never liv'd.
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The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.
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Learning by study must be won 'Twas ne'er entail'd from son to son.
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Can love be controll'd by advice?
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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.
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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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Envy's a sharper spur than pay.
John Gay
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[Gulliver was soon being read] from the cabinet council to the nursery.
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Envy is a kind of praise.
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Breathe soft, ye winds! ye waves, in silence sleep!
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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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Music might tame and civilize wild beasts, but 'tis evident it never yet could tame and civilize musicians.
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Praising all alike, is praising none.
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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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Fair words cost nothing.
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Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil O'er books consumed the midnight oil?
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Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet.
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No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who've no retreat.
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Youth's the season made for joys, Love is then our duty.
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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.
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