Ben Jonson

“Many might go to heaven with half the labor they go to hell.”

“He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.”

“I do honour the very flea of his dog.”

“Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.”

“Neither do thou lust after that tawny weed tobacco.”

“Apes are apes, though clothed in scarlet.”

“O, for an engine, to keep back all clocks, or make the sun forget his motion!”

“Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine.”

“Language most shews a man: Speak, that I may see thee.”

“Words borrowed of antiquity do lend a kind of majesty to style, and are not without their delight sometimes.”

“Weigh the meaning and look not at the words.”

“I feel my griefs too, and there scarce is groundUpon my flesh t'inflict another wound.Yet dare I not complain, or wish for deathWith holy Paul; lest it be thought the breathOf discontent; or that these prayers beFor weariness of life, not love of thee.”

“Success produces confidence; confidence relaxes industry, and negligence ruins the reputation which accuracy had raised.”

“This is the very womb and bed of enormity.”

“Art hath an enemy called Ignorance.”

“Ambition makes more trusty slaves than need.”

“He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.”

“In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measures, life may perfect be.”

“Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.”

“'Tis the common disease of all your musicians that they know no mean, to be entreated, either to begin or end.”