“He that fears death, or mourns it, in the just,
Shows of the resurrection little trust.”
XXXIV, Of Death, lines 1-2
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), Epigrams
LXXX, Of Life and Death, lines 1-8
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), Epigrams
“Hang sorrow! care'll kill a cat.”
Act i, Scene 3. Comparable to "Hang sorrow! care will kill a cat", George Wither, "Poem on Christmas"
Every Man in His Humour (1598)
Conversations with William Drummond of Hawthornden (1711)
“Pray thee, take care, that tak'st my book in hand,
To read it well: that is, to understand.”
I, To The Reader, lines 1-2
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), Epigrams
“Those that merely talk and never think,
That live in the wild anarchy of drink.”
XLVII, An Epistle, Answering to One That Asked to Be Sealed of the Tribe of Ben, lines 9-10. Comparable to: "They never taste who always drink; They always talk who never think", Matthew Prior, Upon a passage in the Scaligerana.
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640), Underwoods
“Where it concerns himself,
Who's angry at a slander makes it true.”
Catiline His Conspiracy (1611), Act III, scene i
“Art hath an enemy call'd ignorance.”
Every Man out of His Humour (1598), Act I, scene 1
“A cripple in the way out-travels a footman or a post out of the way.”
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640), Timber: or Discoveries
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640), Timber: or Discoveries
“Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold,
And almost every vice — almighty gold.”
Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland, lines 1-2. Comparable to "The flattering, mighty, nay, almighty gold", John Wolcot, To Kien Long, Ode iv; "Almighty dollar", Washington Irving, The Creole Village.
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), The Forest
“Folly often goes beyond her bounds; but Impudence knows none.”
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio (1640), Timber: or Discoveries
“Preserving the sweetness of proportion and expressing itself beyond expression.”
The Masque of Hymen (1606)
The Irish Masque at Court (1613)
Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). This epitaph is generally ascribed to Ben Jonson. It appears in the editions of his Works; but in a manuscript collection of Browne's poems preserved amongst the Lansdowne MS. No. 777, in the British Museum, it is ascribed to Browne, and awarded to him by Sir Egerton Brydges in his edition of Browne's poems.
“If all you boast of your great art be true;
Sure, willing poverty lives most in you.”
VI, To Alchemists, lines 1-2
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), Epigrams
“The dignity of truth is lost
With much protesting.”
Catiline His Conspiracy (1611), Act III, scene ii
XLV, On My First Son, lines 1-12
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), Epigrams