Oliver Goldsmith Quotes & Sayings

O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree! — Oliver Goldsmith

The fortunate circumstances of our lives are generally found, at last, to be of our own producing. — Oliver Goldsmith

Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair. — Oliver Goldsmith

I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines. — Oliver Goldsmith

Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain, With grammar, and nonsense, and learning, Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, Gives genius a better discerning. — Oliver Goldsmith

And e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, The heart distrusting asks if this be joy. — Oliver Goldsmith

The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made. — Oliver Goldsmith

I fretted myself about the mistakes of government, like other people; but finding myself every day grow more angry, and the government growing no better, I left it to mend itself. — Oliver Goldsmith

Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high,
Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye,
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired,
Where graybeard mirth and smiling toil retired,
Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round. — Oliver Goldsmith

The Europeans are themselves blind who describe fortune without sight. No first-rate beauty ever had finer eyes, or saw more clearly. They who have no other trade but seeking their fortune need never hope to find her; coquette-like, she flies from her close pursuers, and at last fixes on the plodding mechanic who stays at home and minds his business. — Oliver Goldsmith

True generosity is a duty as indispensably necessary as those imposed upon us by the law. It is a rule imposed upon us by reason, which should be the sovereign law of a rational being. — Oliver Goldsmith

law grinds the poor, rich men rule the law — Oliver Goldsmith

He watched and wept and prayed and felt for all — Oliver Goldsmith

There is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some time been said by some philosopher. Fontenelle says he would undertake to persuade the whole public of readers to believe that the sun was neither the cause of light or heat, if he could only get six philosophers on his side. — Oliver Goldsmith

I hate the French because they are all slaves and wear wooden shoes. — Oliver Goldsmith

My friends, my children, and fellow sufferers, when I reflect on the
distribution of good and evil here below, I find that much has been
given man to enjoy, yet still more to suffer. Though we should examine
the whole world, we shall not find one man so happy as to have nothing
left to wish for; but we daily see thousands who by suicide shew us they
have nothing left to hope. In this life then it appears that we cannot
be entirely blest; but yet we may be completely miserable! — Oliver Goldsmith

Whenever you see a gaming table be sure to know fortune is not there. Rather she is always in the company of industry. — Oliver Goldsmith

The genteel thing is the genteel thing any time, if as be that a gentleman bees in a concatenation accordingly. — Oliver Goldsmith

The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. — Oliver Goldsmith

They may talk of a comet, or a burning mountain, or some such bagatelle; but to me a modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation. — Oliver Goldsmith

Good people all, with one accord, Lament for Madam Blaize, Who never wanted a good word From those who spoke her praise. — Oliver Goldsmith

Romance and novel paint beauty in colors more charming than nature, and describe a happiness that humans never taste. How deceptive and destructive are those pictures of consummate bliss! — Oliver Goldsmith

Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of humankind pass by. — Oliver Goldsmith

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,- Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. — Oliver Goldsmith

As ten millions of circles can never make a square, so the united voice of myriads cannot lend the smallest foundation to falsehood. — Oliver Goldsmith

A kind and gentle heart he had, To comfort friends and foes; The naked every day he clad When he put on his clothes. — Oliver Goldsmith

In two opposite opinions, if one be perfectly reasonable, the other can't be perfectly right. — Oliver Goldsmith

A mind too vigorous and active, serves only to consume the body to which it is joined. — Oliver Goldsmith

Whatever be the motives which induce men to write,
whether avarice or fame,
the country becomes more wise and happy in which they most serve for instructors. — Oliver Goldsmith

Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace the day's disasters in his morning face. — Oliver Goldsmith

If we look round the world, there seem to be not above six distinct varieties in the human species, each of which is strongly marked, and speaks the kind seldom to have mixed with any other. But there is nothing in the shape, nothing in the faculties, that shows their coming from different originals; and the varieties of climate, of nourishment, and custom, are sufficient to produce every change. — Oliver Goldsmith

Those who place their affections at first on trifles for amusement, will find these trifles become at last their most serious concerns. — Oliver Goldsmith

Even children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile. — Oliver Goldsmith

Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves. — Oliver Goldsmith

There are some faults so nearly allied to excellence that we can scarce weed out the vice without eradicating the virtue. — Oliver Goldsmith

No vernal blooms their torpid rocks array,
But winter lingering chills the lap of May;
No zephyr fondly sues the mountain's breast,
But meteors glare, and stormy glooms invest. — Oliver Goldsmith

We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favors. — Oliver Goldsmith

I have visited many countries, and have been in cities without number, yet never did I enter a town which could not produce ten or twelve little great men; all fancying themselves known to the rest of the world, and complimenting each other upon their extensive reputation. — Oliver Goldsmith

He makes a very handsome corpse and becomes his coffin prodigiously. — Oliver Goldsmith

Persecution is a tribute the great must always pay for preeminence. — Oliver Goldsmith

I armed her against the censure of the world, showed her that books were sweet unreproaching companions to the miserable, and that if they could not bring us to enjoy life, they would at least teach us to endure it. — Oliver Goldsmith

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. — Oliver Goldsmith

Turn, gentle Hermit of the Dale, And guide my lonely way To where yon taper cheers the vale With hospitable ray. — Oliver Goldsmith

The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy. — Oliver Goldsmith

The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door; The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,- A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day. — Oliver Goldsmith

The little mind who loves itself, will wr'te and think with the vulgar; but the great mind will be bravely eccentric, and scorn the beaten road, from universal benevolence. — Oliver Goldsmith

Villainy, when detected, never gives up, but boldly adds impudence to imposture. — Oliver Goldsmith

There is nothing magnanimous in bearing misfortunes with fortitude, when the whole world is looking on ... He who, without friends to encourage or even without hope to alleviate his misfortunes, can behave with tranquility and indifference, is truly great. — Oliver Goldsmith

But me, not destined such delights to share,
My prime of life in wandering spent and care;
Impell'd, with steps unceasing, to pursue
Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view
That, like the circle bounding earth and skies,
Allures from far, yet, as I follow, flies;
My fortune leads to traverse reams alone,
And find no spot of all the world my own. — Oliver Goldsmith

In proportion as society refines, new books must ever become more necessary. — Oliver Goldsmith

Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues. — Oliver Goldsmith

A book may be very amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. — Oliver Goldsmith

Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind; Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote. Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining: Though equal to all things, for all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit. — Oliver Goldsmith

Logicians have but ill defined As rational the human mind; Reason, they say, belongs to man, But let them prove it if they can. — Oliver Goldsmith

This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey. — Oliver Goldsmith

I can't say whether we had more wit among us now than usual, but I am certain we had more laughing, which answered the end as well. — Oliver Goldsmith

When we take a slight survey of the surface of our globe a thousand objects offer themselves which, though long known, yet still demand our curiosity. — Oliver Goldsmith

A reserved lover, it is said, always makes a suspicious husband. — Oliver Goldsmith

Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheld or wandering Po. — Oliver Goldsmith

To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives. — Oliver Goldsmith

And learn the luxury of doing good. — Oliver Goldsmith

One man is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and the other with a wooden ladle. — Oliver Goldsmith

To a philosopher no circumstance, however trifling, is too minute. — Oliver Goldsmith

Let observation with observant view,
Observe mankind from China to Peru. — Oliver Goldsmith

The man recovered of the bite, The dog it was that died. — Oliver Goldsmith

O friendship! thou fond soother of the human breast, to thee we fly in every calamity; to thee the wretched seek for succor; on thee the care-tired son of misery fondly relies; from thy kind assistance the unfortunate always hopes relief, and may be sure of
disappointment. — Oliver Goldsmith

And fools who came to scoff remain'd to pray. — Oliver Goldsmith

What we place most hopes upon, generally proves most fatal. — Oliver Goldsmith

As for disappointing them I should not so much mind; but I can't abide to disappoint myself. — Oliver Goldsmith

I have known a German Prince with more titles than subjects, and a Spanish nobleman with more names than shirts. — Oliver Goldsmith

Where commerce and capitalism are invloved, often times, morality and honor sink to the bottom-Oliver Goldsmith paraphrased — Oliver Goldsmith

Tenderness is a virtue. — Oliver Goldsmith

Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine! — Oliver Goldsmith

Hope, like the gleaming taper — Oliver Goldsmith

Quality and title have such allurements that hundreds are ready to give up all their own importance, to cringe, to flatter, to look little, and to pall every pleasure in constraint, merely to be among the great, though without the least hopes of improving their understanding or sharing their generosity. They might be happier among their equals. — Oliver Goldsmith

Error is ever talkative. — Oliver Goldsmith

The hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowded with fruition. — Oliver Goldsmith

In arguing one should meet serious pleading with humor, and humor with serious pleading. — Oliver Goldsmith

What is genius or courage without a heart? — Oliver Goldsmith

Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law. — Oliver Goldsmith

If you don't ask me questions, I can't give you an untrue answer. — Oliver Goldsmith

Ridicule has even been the most powerful enemy of enthusiasm, and properly the only antagonist that can be opposed to it with success. — Oliver Goldsmith

Death when unmasked shows us a friendly face and is a terror only at a distance. — Oliver Goldsmith

Hope is such a bait, it covers any hook. — Oliver Goldsmith

Blame where you must, be candid where you can, And be each critic the Good-natured Man. — Oliver Goldsmith

The nakedness of the indignant world may be cloathed from the trimmings of the vain. — Oliver Goldsmith

Our chief comforts often produce our greatest anxieties, and the increase in our possessions is but an inlet to new disquietudes. — Oliver Goldsmith

Vain, very vain is my search to find; that happiness which only centers in the mind. — Oliver Goldsmith

A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year. — Oliver Goldsmith

This is that eloquence the ancients represented as lightning, bearing down every opposer; this the power which has turned whole assemblies into astonishment, admiration and awe- - that is described by the torrent, the flame, and every other instance of irresistible impetuosity. — Oliver Goldsmith

A great source of calamity lies in regret and anticipation; therefore a person is wise who thinks of the present alone, regardless of the past or future. — Oliver Goldsmith

It has been remarked that almost every character which has excited either attention or pity has owed part of its success to merit, and part to a happy concurrence of circumstances in its favor. Had Caesar or Cromwell exchanged countries, the one might have been a sergeant and the other an exciseman. — Oliver Goldsmith

Thus love is the most easy and agreeable, and gratitude the most humiliating, affection of the mind. We never reflect on the man we love without exulting in our choice, while he who has bound us to him by benefits alone rises to our ideas as a person to whom we have in some measure forfeited our freedom. — Oliver Goldsmith

The wisdom of the ignorant somewhat resembles the instinct of animals; it is diffused in but a very narrow sphere, but within the circle it acts with vigor, uniformity, and success. — Oliver Goldsmith

Philosophy ... should not pretend to increase our present stock, but make us economists of what we are possessed of. — Oliver Goldsmith

For the first time, the best may err, art may persuade, and novelty spread out its charms. The first fault is the child of simplicity; but every other the offspring of guilt. — Oliver Goldsmith

And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, that one small head could carry all he knew. — Oliver Goldsmith

A traveler of taste will notice that the wise are polite all over the world, but the fool only at home. — Oliver Goldsmith

Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side. — Oliver Goldsmith

Friendship is made up of esteem and pleasure; pity is composed of sorrow and contempt: the mind may for some time fluctuate between them, but it can never entertain both at once. — Oliver Goldsmith