“Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumour are but toys.”

— Ben Jonson , To Celia

Song, To Celia, lines 1-10.
Compare Catullus, Carmina V
The Works of Ben Jonson, First Folio (1616), The Forest
Context: Come my Celia, let us prove,
While we can, the sports of love;
Time will not be ours forever,
He at length our good will sever.
Spend not then his gifts in vain;
Suns that set may rise again,
But if once we lose this light,
'Tis with us perpetual night.
Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumour are but toys.

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Ben Jonson 93

English writer 1572–1637

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“Why should we defer our joys?Fame and rumour are but toys.”

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Ben Jonson 93

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“Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumour are but toys.”