John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Quotes (34 quotes)

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester: 34 quotes2 likes

Famous John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Quotes

“The world appears like a great family,
Whose lord, oppressed with pride and poverty,
(That to the few great bounty he may show)
Is fain to starve the numerous train below.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Like a Great Family.
Other

“Here lies our sovereign lord the king,
Whose word no man relies on;
He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Written on the Bedchamber Door of Charles II, as quoted in The Book of Days : A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities (1832) by Robert Chambers, Viol. II, July 26, p. 126.

“Were I, who to my Cost already am
One of those strange, prodigious Creatures Man,
A Spirit free, to choose for my own Share,
What sort of Flesh and Blood I pleas’d to wear,
I’d be a Dog, a Monkey, or a Bear,
Or any thing, but that vain Animal,
Who is so proud of being Rational.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

ll. 1-7.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

“Lest, once more wandering from that heaven,
I fall on some base heart unblest,
Faithless to thee, false, unforgiven,
And lose my everlasting rest.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Absent from thee, I languish still, ll. 13-16.
Other

“On thy wither’d lips and dry,
Which like barren furrows lie,
Brooding kisses I will pour,
Shall thy youthful heart restore.
(Such kind showers in autumn fall,
And a second spring recall);
Nor from thee will ever part,
Ancient Person of my Heart.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

A Song of a Young Lady to Her Ancient Lover, ll. 7-14.
Other

“But a meek humble Man of modest Sense,
Who, Preaching Peace, does practice Continence;
Whose pious life’s a proof he does believe,
Mysterious Truths, which no Man can conceive.
If upon Earth there dwell such God-like Men,
I'll here Recant my Paradox to them;
Adore those Shrines of Virtue, homage pay,
And, with the rabble world, their Laws obey.
If such there are, yet grant me This at least,
Man differs more from Man, than Man from Beast.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

ll. 212-221
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Quotes about heart

“If you have a grateful heart (which is a miracle amongst you statesmen), show it by directing the bearer to the best wine in town, and pray let not this highest point of sacred friendship be performed slightly, but go about it with all due deliberation and care, as holy priests to sacrifice, or as discreet thieves to the wary performance of burglary and shop-lifting. Let your well-discerning palate (the best judge about you) travel from cellar to cellar and then from piece to piece till it has lighted on wine fit for its noble choice and my approbation.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Letter to the diplomat Henry Savile (1673-1674).
Other

“Then talk not of Inconstancy,
False Hearts, and broken Vows;
If I, by Miracle, can be
This live-long Minute true to thee,
‘Tis all that Heav’n allows.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Love and Life, ll. 11-15.
Other

“Angels listen when she speaks:
She ’s my delight, all mankind’s wonder;
But my jealous heart would break
Should we live one day asunder.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Song.
Other

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Quotes about fake

“Thou treacherous, base deserter of my flame,
False to my passion, fatal to my fame,
Through what mistaken magic dost thou prove
So true to lewdness, so untrue to love?”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

The Imperfect Enjoyment.
Other

“Great Negative, how vainly would the Wise
Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise,
Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies?Is, or is not, the Two great Ends of Fate,
And, true or false, the Subject of Debate,
That perfect, or destroy, the vast Designs of Fate.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Upon Nothing, ll. 28–33.
Other

“There's not a thing on earth that I can name,
So foolish, and so false, as common fame.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Did e'er this Saucy World.
Other

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Quotes

“Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

As quoted in The New Speaker's Treasury of Wit and Wisdom (1958) by Herbert Victor Prochnow

“We have a pretty witty king,
Whose word no man relies on;
He never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

About King Charles II of England, as quoted in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Vol. XLIV (January - June 1857) p. 592; It is said to that this was written on the door of Charles II’s bedchamber, and that on seeing it, the king replied, “This is very true: for my words are my own, and my actions are my ministers’....”
Other

“So, when my Days of Impotence approach,
And I’m by Pox and Wine’s unlucky chance
Driv'n from the pleasing Billows of debauch
On the dull Shore of lazy Temperance;My Pains at least some Respite shall afford
While I behold the Battles you maintain
When Fleets of Glasses sail about the Board,
From whose Broad-sides Volleys of Wit shall rain.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

The Maim'd Debauchee, ll. 13–20.
Other

“Farewell, woman! I intend
Henceforth every night to sit
With my lewd, well-natured friend,
Drinking to engender wit.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Love a woman! Y’are an ass, ll. 9–12.
Other

“Reason, an Ignis fatuus of the Mind,
Which leaves the light of Nature, Sense, behind.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

ll. 12-13.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

“For pointed satire I would Buckhurst choose,
The best good man with the worst-natured muse.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

An allusion to Horace, Satire x. Book i. Compare: "Thou best-humour'd man with the worst-humour'd muse!", Oliver Goldsmith, Retaliation, Postscript.
Other

“The clog of all pleasure, the luggage of life,
Is the best can be said for a very good wife.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

On a Wife.
Other

“Dead we become the lumber of the world.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

After Death.
Other

“It is a good world to live in,
To lend, or to spend, or to give in;
But to beg or to borrow, or to get a man's own,
It is the very worst world that ever was known.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Epigram, sometimes attributed to John Bromfield
Other

“But oh, how slowly minutes roll
When absent from her eyes,
That feed my love, which is my soul:
It languishes and dies.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

The Mistress: A Song, ll. 5–8.
Other