The Way of the World is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is still occasionally performed. Initially, however, the play struck many audience members as continuing the immorality of the previous decades, and was not well received.
“Say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act II, scene i. Precedent for Alfred Tennyson's more famous: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"
The Way of the World (1700)
“Love's but a frailty of the mind,
When 'tis not with ambition joined.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act III, scene xii
The Way of the World (1700)
“If there's delight in love, 'tis when I see
That heart which others bleed for, bleed for me.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act III, scene xii http://books.google.com/books?id=2LQNAAAAQAAJ&q=%22If+there's+delight+in+love+tis+when+I%22+%22That+heart+which+others+bleed+for+bleed+for+me%22&pg=PA34#v=onepage <br class="br">The Way of the World (1700)
“I nauseate walking; 'tis a country diversion, I loathe the country.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act IV, scene v
The Way of the World (1700)
“They come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered reputations of the week.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act I, scene i
The Way of the World (1700)
“O, she is the antidote to desire.”
William Congreve The Way of the World
Act IV, scene xiv
The Way of the World (1700)
