Henry Wotton Quotes

Sir Henry Wotton was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. He is often quoted as saying, "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country." Wikipedia  

✵ 30. March 1568 – 1639
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Henry Wotton: 13   quotes 0   likes

Famous Henry Wotton Quotes

“Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.”

The Disparity Between Buckingham and Essex (1651).

“You meaner beauties of the night,
That poorly satisfy our eyes
More by your number than your light;
You common people of the skies,
What are you when the sun shall rise?”

On His Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia, stanza 1 (1624). In some versions "moon" replaces "sun". This was printed with music as early as 1624, in Est's "Sixth Set of Books", for example.

“Advised a young diplomat "to tell the truth, and so puzzle and confound his enemies."”

Attributed. E.g., Vol 24, Encyclopedia Britannica of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, page 721 https://books.google.com/books?id=_GlJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA721&lpg=PA721&dq=truth+wotton+confound+advice&source=bl&ots=-cGk3UDLLj&sig=ltOR1xtI9WFic1JWKiFmIZ8Yce0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVkZCsj-jRAhXCyFQKHTmsCkAQ6AEIODAG#v=onepage&q=truth%20wotton%20confound%20advice&f=false (9th Ed. 1894).
Compare Mark Twain who, in Following the Equator, said "When in doubt, tell the truth" (which is often mis-quoted as containing an additional clause providing "it will confound your enemies and astound your friends").

“Lord of himself, though not of lands;
And having nothing, yet hath all.”

The Character of a Happy Life (1614), stanza 6. Compare: "As having nothing, and yet possessing all things", 2 Corinthians vi. 10.

“The itch of disputing will prove the scab of churches.”

A Panegyric to King Charles (1651).

Henry Wotton Quotes

“Love lodged in a woman's breast
Is but a guest.”

A Woman's Heart (1651).

“An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth.”

Reliquiae Wottonainae (1651). In a letter to Velserus, 1612, Wotton says, "This merry definition of an ambassador I had chanced to set down at my friend's, Mr. Christopher Fleckamore, in his Album".

“He first deceased; she for a little tried
To live without him, liked it not, and died.”

Upon the Death of Sir Albert Morton's Wife (1651).

“I am but a gatherer and disposer of other men's stuff.”

Preface to the Elements of Architecture (1624).

“Here lies the author of this phrase: "The itch for disputing is the sore of churches." Seek his name elsewhere.”
Hic jacet hujus sententiæ primus author: DISPUTANDI PRURITUS ECCLESIARUM SCABIES. Nomen alias quære.

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