Ben Jonson Quotes

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• To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

  Ben Jonson

  Motivational, Wise, Communication

  Ben Jonson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ben Jonson (Illustrated)”, p.3209, Delphi Classics

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• True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.

  Ben Jonson

  Friendship, Positive, Happiness

  'Cynthia's Revels' (1600) act 3, sc. 2

  52 Copy quote

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• 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.

  Ben Jonson

  Romantic, Food, Wine

  "To Celia" l. 1 (1616).

  37 Copy quote

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• There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.

  Ben Jonson

  No Fear, Hell, Prisoner

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• You learn nothing about someone by the way they win the fight, you learn everything about the way they lose and keep coming back.

  Ben Jonson

  Art, Fighting, Winning

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• Memory, of all the powers of the mind, is the most delicate and frail.

  Ben Jonson

  Memories, Mind, Frail

  Ben Jonson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ben Jonson (Illustrated)”, p.3182, Delphi Classics

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• The voice so sweet, the words so fair, As some soft chime had stroked the air; And though the sound had parted thence, Still left an echo in the sense.

  Ben Jonson

  Sweet, Echoes, Air

  'Eupheme' (1640) no. 4 'The Mind'

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• He who is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

  Ben Jonson

  Inspirational, Art, Fool

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• Chance will not do the work. Chance sends the breeze;
  But if the pilot slumber at the helm,
  The very wind that wafts us tow'rds the port
  May dash us on the shoals. The steersman's part
  Is vigilance, or blow it rough or smooth.

  Ben Jonson

  Blow, Wind, Slumber

  15 Copy quote

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• Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back.

  Ben Jonson

  Inspiration, Ambition, Looks

  24 Copy quote

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• Calumnies are answered best with silence.

  Ben Jonson

  Silence, Advice, Calumny

  'Volpone' (1605) act 2, sc. 2

  17 Copy quote

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

  Ben Jonson

  Relax, Ruins, Reputation

  31 Copy quote

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• The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.

  Ben Jonson

  Life, Losing, Dignity

  Ben Jonson (1756). “The Works of Ben. Jonson: The alchemist. Catiline, his conspiracy. Bartholomew Fair”, p.201

  17 Copy quote

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• Great honours are great burdens, but on whom They are cast with envy, he doth bear two loads.

  Ben Jonson

  Two, Envy, Honor

  Ben Jonson, William Gifford (1857). “The Works of Ben Jonson”, p.386

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• To struggle when hope is banished! To live when life's salt is gone! To dwell in a dream that's vanished- To endure, and go calmly on!

  Ben Jonson

  Life, Dream, Struggle

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• I remember, the players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing (whatsoever he penned) he never plotted out a line. My answer hath been, would he had blotted a thousand.

  Ben Jonson

  Writing, Player, Lines

  Timber: or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter (published 1640).

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• It is virtue that gives glory; that will endenizen a man everywhere.

  Ben Jonson

  Men, Giving, Virtue

  Ben Jonson (1892). “Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter: And Some Poems”

  7 Copy quote

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• My thoughts and I were of another world.

  Ben Jonson

  World, Another World, My Thoughts

  Ben Jonson, William Gifford (1859). “The works of Ben Jonson”

  6 Copy quote

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• Woman, the more careful she is about her face, the more careless about her house.

  Ben Jonson

  Home, House, Faces

  11 Copy quote

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• Confound these ancestors... They've stolen our best ideas!

  Ben Jonson

  Funny, Humor, Ideas

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• Give me a look, give me a face, That makes simplicity a grace Robes loosely flowing, hair as free Such sweet neglect more taketh me Than all the adulteries of art: They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.

  Ben Jonson

  Sweet, Art, Eye

  Epicene act 1, sc. 1 (1609)

  12 Copy quote

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• Thy praise or dispraise is to me alike; One doth not stroke me, nor the other strike.

  Ben Jonson

  Praise, Strikes, Strokes

  Ben Jonson (1856). “Poetical Works of Ben Jonson. Edited by Robert Bell”, p.46

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• If I freely may discover
  What should please me in my lover,
  I would have her fair and witty,
  Savouring more of court than city;
  A little proud, but full of pity;
  Light and humorous in her toying,
  Oft building hopes, and soon destroying,
  Long, but sweet in the enjoying;
  Neither too easy nor to hard;
  All extremes I would have barr'd.

  Ben Jonson

  Love, Sweet, Witty

  Ben Jonson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ben Jonson (Illustrated)”, p.690, Delphi Classics

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• No man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

  Ben Jonson

  Wise, Men, May

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• It is less dishonor to hear imperfectly than to speak imperfectly. The ears are excused; the understanding is not.

  Ben Jonson

  Understanding, Ears, Speak

  Ben Jonson, William Gifford (1879). “The Works of Ben Jonson”

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