“For all Men would be Cowards if they durst:
And Honesty’s against all common Sense.”

ll. 158-159.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

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 "For all Men would be Cowards if they durst: And Honesty’s against all common Sense." by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester?
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester photo
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester 34
English poet, and peer of the realm 1647–1680

Related quotes

Samuel Butler (poet) photo

“When civil fury first grew high,
And men fell out, they knew not why;
When hard words, jealousies, and fears,
Set folks together by the ears,
And made them fight, like mad or drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for punk; Whose honesty they all durst swear for,
Though not a man of them knew wherefore:”

Canto I, first lines
Hudibras, Part I (1663–1664)
Context: When civil fury first grew high,
And men fell out, they knew not why;
When hard words, jealousies, and fears,
Set folks together by the ears,
And made them fight, like mad or drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for punk; Whose honesty they all durst swear for,
Though not a man of them knew wherefore:
When Gospel-Trumpeter, surrounded
With long-ear'd rout, to battle sounded,
And pulpit, drum ecclesiastick,
Was beat with fist, instead of a stick;
Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
And out he rode a colonelling.

William Faulkner photo
Mencius photo
Lawrence Lessig photo

“I believe it would be right for common sense to revolt against the extreme claims made today on behalf of "intellectual property."”

Introduction
Free Culture (2004)
Context: I believe it would be right for common sense to revolt against the extreme claims made today on behalf of "intellectual property." What the law demands today is increasingly as silly as a sheriff arresting an airplane for trespass. But the consequences of this silliness will be much more profound.

Davy Crockett photo

“I gave my decisions on the principles of common justice and honesty between man and man, and relied on natural born sense, and not on law, learning to guide me; for I had never read a page in a law book in all my life.”

Davy Crockett (1786–1836) American politician

On the basis of his legal decisions, in Ch. 9
A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (1834)

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester photo

“Most Men are Cowards, all Men should be Knaves.
The Difference lies, as far as I can see,
Not in the thing it self, but the Degree.”

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680) English poet, and peer of the realm

ll. 169-171.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

Oscar Wilde photo
H.L. Mencken photo

“In the present case it is a little inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in the Republic.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

As quoted in LIFE magazine, Vol. 21, No. 6, (5 August 1946), p. 52 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3UwEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&client=safari&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false; this has also been paraphrased as "It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office."
1940s–present
Context: In the present case it is a little inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in the Republic. But I do not repine, for I am a subject of it only by force of arms.

Maimónides photo
Thomas Henry Huxley photo

“All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.”

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) English biologist and comparative anatomist

"On the Study of Biology" (1876) http://books.google.com/books?id=4cl5c4T9LWkC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=All+truth,+in+the+long+run,+is+only+common+sense+clarified.+huxley+On+the+Study+of+Biology&source=bl&ots=87sGwjauQT&sig=pEmWoYQoN8HUVIVU6WSrnAAM8Dc&hl=en&ei=hFcnStrlM5H0tQPG-NBH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
1870s

Related topics