John Gay: Man

John Gay was English poet and playwright. Explore interesting quotes on man.

John Gay: 112 quotes0 likes

“A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much”

Source: The Beggar's Opera

“Is there no hope? the sick man said;
The silent doctor shook his head.”

Fable, The Sick Man and the Angel
Fables (1727)

“You base man you,—how can you look me in the face after what hath passed between us?—See here, perfidious wretch, how I am forc'd to bear about the load of infamy you have laid upon me— -O Macheath! thou hast robb'd me of my quiet—to see thee tortur'd would give me pleasure.”

Lucy, Act II, sc. ix
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

“If the heart of a man is depressed with cares,
The mist is dispell'd when a woman appears;
Like the notes of a fiddle, she sweetly, sweetly
Raises the spirits, and charms our ears.”

Act II, sc. iii, air 21
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

“You know, my Dear, I never meddle in matters of Death; I always leave those Affairs to you. Women indeed are bitter bad Judges in these cases, for they are so partial to the Brave that they think every Man handsome who is going to the Camp or the Gallows.”

Mrs. Peachum, Act I, sc. iv
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

“I hate the man who builds his name
On ruins of another's fame.
Thus prudes, by characters o'erthrown,
Imagine that they raise their own.
Thus Scribblers, covetous of praise,
Think slander can transplant the bays.”

Fable XLV, "The Poet and the Rose"
Fables (1727)

“Man may escape from rope and gun;
Nay, some have outlived the doctor's pill:
Who takes a woman must be undone,
That basilisk is sure to kill.
The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets,
So he that tastes woman, woman, woman,
He that tastes woman, ruin meets.”

Act II, sc. viii, air 26
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

“Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most? There are not many husbands and wives, who can bear the charges of plaguing one another in a handsome way.”

Mrs. Peachum, Act I, sc. viii
The Beggar's Opera (1728)