Oliver Goldsmith Quotes

“I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.”

Act II.
The Good-Natured Man (1768)

“Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam,
His first, best country ever is, at home.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act I
Source: The Vicar of Wakefield

“Handsome is that handsome does.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 73.

“O Memory! thou fond deceiver.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 1.

“Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.”

Act I.
The Captivity, An Oratorio (1764)

Oliver Goldsmith Quotes about men

“When lovely woman stoops to folly,
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can soothe her melancholy?
What art can wash her guilt away?”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 51.

“A flattering painter, who made it his care
To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 29, Song, st. 1.

“The better sort here pretend to the utmost compassion for animals of every kind. To hear them speak, a stranger would be apt to imagine they could hardly hurt the gnat that stung them: they seem so tender and so full of pity, that one would take them for the harmless friends of the whole creation; the protectors of the meanest insect or reptile that was privileged with existence. And yet, would you believe it? I have seen the very men who have thus boasted of their tenderness, at the same time devouring the flesh of six different animals toasted up in a fricassee. Strange contrariety of conduct! they pity and they eat the objects of their compassion.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 63.

Oliver Goldsmith book The Citizen of the World

The Citizen of the World (1760–1761), Letter XV https://books.google.it/books?id=cIELAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA44.

“Measures, not men, have always been my mark.”

“Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.”

Act II.
The Good-Natured Man (1768)

“Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper circling round
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd.
Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declar'd how much he knew,
'T was certain he could write and cipher too.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 386.

Oliver Goldsmith Quotes about love

“It seemed to be pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.”

Variant: A man severe he was, and stern to view;
I knew him well, and every truant knew:
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the bust whisper, circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned;
Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declared how much he knew;
'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too.
Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 199.

“The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love,
The matron's glance that would those looks reprove.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 16.

“All his faults are such that one loves him still the better for them.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 29.

“Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love, an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves.”

Act I.
The Good-Natured Man (1768)

“For he who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day;
But he who is in battle slain
Can never rise and fight again.”

Act I.
The Good-Natured Man (1768)

Oliver Goldsmith: Trending quotes

“That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.”

The Art of Poetry on a New Plan (1761), vol. ii. p. 147.
The saying "he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day" dates at least as far back as Menander (ca. 341–290 B.C.), Gnomai Monostichoi, aphorism #45: ἀνήρ ὁ ϕɛύγων καὶ ράλίν μαχήɛṯαί (a man who flees will fight again). The Attic Nights (book 17, ch. 21) of Aulus Gellius (ca. 125–180 A.D.) indicates it was already widespread in the second century: "...the orator Demosthenes sought safety in flight from the battlefield, and when he was bitterly taunted with his flight, he jestingly replied in the well-known verse: The man who runs away will fight again".

“These little things are great to little man.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 5.

“By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd;
The sports of children satisfy the child.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 42.

Oliver Goldsmith Quotes

“Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 153.

“The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend. When I read a book over I have perused before, it resembles the meeting with an old one.”

She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act III
Variant: Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies.

“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”

Source: The Citizen of the World, Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the Country, by Dr. Goldsmith

“Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel.”

“The best-humour'd man, with the worst-humour'd Muse.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 436.

“To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives.”

Postscript.
Retaliation (1774)

“[To Mr. Johnson] If you were to make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 21.

“Where wealth and freedom reign contentment fails,
And honor sinks where commerce long prevails.”

From James Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), April 27, 1773.

“He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack,
For he knew when he pleased he could whistle them back.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 91.

“The premises being thus settled, I proceed to observe that the concatenation of self-existence, proceeding in a reciprocal duplicate ratio, naturally produces a problematical dialogism, which in some measure proves that the essence of spirituality may be referred to the second predicable.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 107.

“Here lies David Garrick, describe me, who can,
An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 7.

“That strain once more; it bids remembrance rise.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 93.

“Even children followed with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile.”

Act I.
The Captivity, An Oratorio (1764)

“I…chose a wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 183.

“The watchdog's voice that bayed the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 1.

“Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 121.

“There is no arguing with Johnson: for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 413.

“They please, are pleased, they give to get esteem,
Till, seeming blest, they grow to what they seem.”

From James Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), October 26, 1769.

“So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar
But bind him to his native mountains more.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 265.

“In my time, the follies of the town crept slowly among us, but now they travel faster than a stagecoach.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 217.

“But winter lingering chills the lap of May.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act I

“The land of scholars and the nurse of arms.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 172.

“Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine!”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 356.

“Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go,
Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 50.

“They would talk of nothing but high life, and high-lived company, with other fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 344.

“And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 9.

“As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 17, An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, st. 4.

“Men may be very learned, and yet very miserable; it is easy to be a deep geometrician, or a sublime astronomer, but very difficult to be a good man. I esteem, therefore, the traveller who instructs the heart, but despise him who only indulges the imagination. A man who leaves home to mend himself and others, is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to country, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is only a vagabond.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 96.

Oliver Goldsmith book The Citizen of the World

The Citizen of the World (1760–1761), Letter VII.

“Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done,
Shoulder'd his crutch, and shew'd how fields were won.”

“And, as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 157.

“As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,—
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 167.

“We are the boys
That fear no noise
Where the thundering cannons roar.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 189.

“The very pink of perfection.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act II

“A modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act I

“O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree!”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act II

“The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad, and bit the man.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 385.

“The canvas glow'd beyond ev'n Nature warm,
The pregnant quarry teem'd with human form.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 17, An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, st. 5.

“To men of other minds my fancy flies,
Embosomed in the deep where Holland lies.
Methinks her patient sons before me stand,
Where the broad ocean leans against the land.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 137.

“We modest Gentlemen don't want for much success among the women.”

Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 281.

“A book may be very amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act IV

“The only art her guilt to cover,
To hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover,
And wring his bosom, is — to die.”

Preface.
The Vicar of Wakefield (1766)

“Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such,
We scarcely can praise it, or blame it too much;
Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind,
And to party gave up what was meant for mankind;
Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat
To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote.
Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining,
And thought of convincing while they thought of dining:
Though equal to all things, for all things unfit;
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 29, Song, st. 2.

“Where village statesmen talked with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 29.

“Who mix'd reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth:
If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 223.

“Oh sir! I must not tell my age.
They say women and music should never be dated.”

Source: Retaliation (1774), Line 24.

“I find you want me to furnish you with argument and intellects too.”

She Stoops to Conquer (1771), Act III

“To what happy accident is it that we owe so unexpected a visit?”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 7.

“A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year.”

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 19.

“Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.”

Source: The Deserted Village (1770), Line 141.