Philip Massinger Quotes

To doubt is worse than to have lost; And to despair is but to antedate those miseries that must fall on us.

A willing mind makes a hard journey easy.

Malice scorned, puts out itself; but argued, give a kind of credit to a false accusation.

True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn.

Be wise; soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise.

It is true fortitude to stand firm against All shocks of fate, when cowards faint and die In fear to suffer more calamity.

Giants in Their promises, but those obtained, weak pigmies In their performance.

How sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman! It is so seldom heard that, when it speaks,it ravishes all senses.

Man was mark'd A friend in his creation to himself, And may, with fit ambition, conceive The greatest blessings, and the highest honors Appointed for him, if he can achieve them The right and noble way.

He is not valiant that dares lie; but he that boldly bears calamity.

Thou art figured blind, and yet we borrow our best sight from thee.

Before We end our pilgrimage, 'tis fit that we Should leave corruption, and foul sin, behind us, But with wash'd feet and hands, the heathens dar' not Enter their profane temples; and for me To hope my passage to eternity Can be made easy, till I have shook off The burthen of my sins in free confession, Aided with sorrow, and repentance for them, Is against reason.

We have not an hour of life in which our pleasures relish not some pain, our sours, some sweetness.

The soul is strong that trusts in goodness.

Petitions, not sweetened with gold, are but unsavory and oft refused; or, if received, are pocketed, not read.

He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself.

If you like not hanging, drown yourself; Take some course for your reputation.

As the index tells us the contents of stories and directs to the particular chapter, even so does the outward habit and superficial order of garments (in man or woman) give us a taste of the spirit, and demonstratively point (as it were a manual note from the margin) all the internal quality of the soul; and there cannot be a more evident, palpable, gross manifestation of poor, degenerate, dunghilly blood and breeding than a rude, unpolished, disordered, and slovenly outside.

Patience, the beggar's virtue, shall find no harbor here.

Conscience and wealth are not always neighbors.

For any man to match above his rank is but to sell his liberty.

Virtue, thou in rags, may challenge more than vice set off with all the trim of greatness.

What can innocence hope for, When such as sit her judges are corrupted!

Cheerful looks make every dish a feast, and it is that which crowns a welcome.

But married once, a man is stak'd or pown'd, and cannot graze beyond his own hedge.

One grain of incense with devotion offer'd 'S beyond all perfumes of Sabaean spices.

I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours.

I have play'd the fool, the gross fool, to believe The bosom of a friend will hold a secret Mine own could not contain.

Like a rough orator, that brings more truth Than rhetoric, to make good his accusation.

Nor custom, nor example, nor cast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin.

You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels.

Death hath a thousand doors to let out life.

This is the Jew that Shakespeare drew.

Tis the only discipline we are born for; all studies else are but as circular lines, and death the center where they all must meet.

The sum of all that makes a just man happy Consists in the well choosing of his wife: And there, well to discharge it, does require Equality of years, of birth, of fortune; For beauty being poor, and not cried up By birth or wealth, can truly mix with neither. And wealth, when there's such difference in years, And fair descent, must make the yoke uneasy.

And, to all married men, be this a caution, Which they should duly tender as their life, Neither to doat too much, nor doubt a wife.

Such as ne'er saw swans May think crows beautiful.

Ill news are swallow-winged, but what is good walks on crutches.

A diamond, though set in horns, is still a diamond, and sparkles in purest gold.

Factions among yourselves; preferring such To offices and honors, as ne'er read The elements of saving policy; But deeply skilled in all the principles That usher to destruction.

What a seaOf melting ice I walk on!

Honour is Virtue's allowed ascent: honour that clasps All perfect justice in her arms; that craves No more respect than that she gives; that does Nothing but what she'll suffer.

The over curious are not over wise.

He that knows no guilt can know no fear.

I in my own house am an emperor, And will defend what's mine.

0 summer friendship, whose flat-tering leaves shadowed us in our prosperity, With the least gust, drop off in the autumn of adversity.

Great men, Till they have gained their ends, are giants in Their promises, but, those obtained, weak pigmies In their performance. And it is a maxim Allowed among them, so they may deceive, They may swear anything; for the queen of love, As they hold constantly, does never punish, But smile, at lovers' perjuries.

Nay, droop not, fellows; innocence should be bold.

The good needs fear no law, It is his safety and the bad man's awe.

They are only safe That know to soothe the prince's appetite, And serve his lusts.