“Come out, my lord, it is a world of fools.”
Act iv, scene 3
Queen Mary: A Drama (published 1876)
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson 213
British poet laureate 1809–1892Related quotes
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
Puck, Act III, scene ii.
Variant: Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Source: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)
“Only a fool thinks his enemies stand still when he isn't looking, my Lord Dragon.”
Damer Flinn
A Crown of Swords (15 May 1996)
“Fools scorn me when I dwell in human form: my higher being they know not as Great Lord of beings.”
Source: Chapter 9 (Raja–Vidya–Raja–Guhya yoga), p. 141. (11.)
As quoted by John Greenleaf Whittier in his poem "Abraham Davenport" first published in The Atlantic Monthly (May 1866); later published in The Tent on the Beach, and Other Poems (1867).
Context: This well may be The Day of Judgment which the world awaits; But be it so or not, I only know my present duty, and my Lord’s command to occupy till He come. So at the post where He hath set me in His providence, I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face, no faithless servant frightened from my task, but ready when the Lord of the harvest calls; and therefore, with all reverence, I would say, let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles.
“At ease in a world in which my Lord was such a sufferer!”
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 344.
A Vindication of Natural Society (1756)
Context: You are, my Lord, but just entering into the world; I am going out of it. I have played long enough to be heartily tired of the drama. Whether I have acted my part in it well or ill, posterity will judge with more candour than I, or than the present age, with our present passions, can possibly pretend to. For my part, I quit it without a sigh, and submit to the sovereign order without murmuring. The nearer we approach to the goal of life, the better we begin to understand the true value of our existence, and the real weight of our opinions. We set out much in love with both; but we leave much behind us as we advance. We first throw away the tales along with the rattles of our nurses; those of the priest keep their hold a little longer; those of our governors the longest of all. But the passions which prop these opinions are withdrawn one after another; and the cool light of reason, at the setting of our life, shows us what a false splendour played upon these objects during our more sanguine seasons. Happy, my Lord, if, instructed by my experience, and even by my errors, you come early to make such an estimate of things, as may give freedom and ease to your life. I am happy that such an estimate promises me comfort at my death.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
[Proverbs, 1:7, KJV] (KJV)