William Congreve

“They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered reputations of the week.”

“No, I'm no enemy to learning; it hurts not me.”

“I know that's a secret, for it's whispered everywhere.”

“Wit must be foiled by wit: cut a diamond with a diamond.”

“A wit should be no more sincere than a woman constant.”

“Beauty is the lover's gift.”

“Say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved.”

“I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull.”

“A little disdain is not amiss; a little scorn is alluring.”

“There is in true beauty, as in courage, something which narrow souls cannot dare to admire.”

“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”