“I well believe, thou wouldst be great as he;
For every man's a fool to that degree:
All wish the dire prerogative to kill;
Ev'n they would have the power who want the will.”

— John Dryden

Juvenal, Satire X (1693), lines 156–159.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I well believe, thou wouldst be great as he; For every man's a fool to that degree: All wish the dire prerogative to …" by John Dryden?

John Dryden photo

John Dryden196

English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century 1631–1700

Related quotes

“Oh, Thou who Man of baser Earth didst make,
And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake:
For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man
Is blacken'd — Man's forgiveness give — and take!”

Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer

The Rubaiyat (1120)

“The man, who in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.”

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher

Tel homme qui dans un excès de mélancolie se tue aujourd’hui aimerait à vivre s’il attendait huit jours. <br class="br"> "Cato" http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/18/caton.htm (1764) <br class="br">Citas, Dictionnaire philosophique (1764)

“Tis well: the rack, the chain, the wheel,
Far better had'st thou proved;
Ev'n I could almost pity feel,
For thou art not beloved.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

Revenge
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)

“The Wise Man is that which he hath.
The precious Pearl of Paradise Wouldst thou not lose,
then must thou be Thyself that Pearl of greatest price.”

Angelus Silesius (1624–1677) German writer

The Cherubinic Wanderer

“If thou couldst trust, poor soul!
In Him who rules the whole,
Thou wouldst find peace and rest;
Wisdom and sight are well, but trust is best.”

Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) English poet and songwriter

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 597.

“A man who does not fool himself seldom cares much about fooling others. But the man who claims to have seen a ghost wants everybody else to believe in ghosts.”

E. W. Howe (1853–1937) Novelist, magazine and newspaper editor

Ventures in Common Sense (1919), p87.

“Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly to-day,
Were to change by to-morrow and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away.
Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart,
Would entwine itself verdantly still.”

Thomas Moore (1779–1852) Irish poet, singer and songwriter

Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms, st. 1. <br class="br"> Irish Melodies http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/moore.html (1807–1834)

“He wished he could reassure his mother: a man wants many things in life, but when one of them is also the right thing, he would be a fool not to choose it.”

Jess Walter book Beautiful Ruins

Source: Beautiful Ruins

“If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God; and to do that, thou must be ruled by him who has given to kings his grace to command themselves and their subjects, and to the people the grace to obey God and their kings.”

William Penn (1644–1718) English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania

Letter to Peter the Great, the Czar of Russia, 2 July 1698, in Samuel McPherson Janney, The Life of William Penn (Philadelphia, 1852), p. 407

“If thou wouldst be interesting, keep thy personality in the background, and be great and strong in and through thy subject.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 156

Related topics