Philip Massinger Quotes & Sayings

Quiet night, that brings
Best to the labourer, is the outlaw's day,
In which he rises early to do wrong,
And when his work is ended dares not sleep. — Philip Massinger

What pity 'tis, one that can speak so well, Should in his actions be so ill! — Philip Massinger

How sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman! It is so seldom heard that, when it speaks,it ravishes all senses. — Philip Massinger

Conscience and wealth are not always neighbors. — Philip Massinger

True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn. — Philip Massinger

Oh that thou hadst like others been all words, And no performance. — Philip Massinger

Before
We end our pilgrimage, 'tis fit that we
Should leave corruption, and foul sin, behind us,
But with wash'd feet and hands, the heathens dar' not
Enter their profane temples; and for me
To hope my passage to eternity
Can be made easy, till I have shook off
The burthen of my sins in free confession,
Aided with sorrow, and repentance for them,
Is against reason. — Philip Massinger

Shall this nectar Run useless, then, to waste? or ... these lips, That open like the morn, breathing perfumes, On such as dare approach them, be untouch'd? They must
nay, 'tis in vain to make resistance
Be often kissed and tasted. — Philip Massinger

But married once, a man is stak'd or pown'd, and cannot graze beyond his own hedge. — Philip Massinger

Man was mark'd
A friend in his creation to himself,
And may, with fit ambition, conceive
The greatest blessings, and the highest honors
Appointed for him, if he can achieve them
The right and noble way. — Philip Massinger

He that doth public good for multitudes, finds few are truly grateful — Philip Massinger

The good needs fear no law, It is his safety and the bad man's awe. — Philip Massinger

A willing mind makes a hard journey easy. — Philip Massinger

To doubt is worse than to have lost; and to despair is but to antedate those miseries that must fall on us. — Philip Massinger

We have not an hour of life in which our pleasures relish not some pain, our sours, some sweetness. — Philip Massinger

Detraction's a bold monster, and fears not
To wound the fame of princes, if it find
But any blemish in their lives to work on. — Philip Massinger

You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels. — Philip Massinger

From the king
To the beggar, by gradation, all are servants;
And you must grant, the slavery is less
To study to please one, than many. — Philip Massinger

What a seaOf melting ice I walk on! — Philip Massinger

And, to all married men, be this a caution, Which they should duly tender as their life, Neither to doat too much, nor doubt a wife. — Philip Massinger

Patience, the beggar's virtue, shall find no harbor here. — Philip Massinger

If you like not hanging, drown yourself; Take some course for your reputation. — Philip Massinger

Thou art figured blind, and yet we borrow our best sight from thee. — Philip Massinger

One grain of incense with devotion offer'd
'S beyond all perfumes of Sabaean spices. — Philip Massinger

As the index tells us the contents of stories and directs to the particular chapter, even so does the outward habit and superficial order of garments (in man or woman) give us a taste of the spirit, and demonstratively point (as it were a manual note from the margin) all the internal quality of the soul; and there cannot be a more evident, palpable, gross manifestation of poor, degenerate, dunghilly blood and breeding than a rude, unpolished, disordered, and slovenly outside. — Philip Massinger

I have play'd the fool, the gross fool, to believe The bosom of a friend will hold a secret Mine own could not contain. — Philip Massinger

Gold
the picklock that never fails. — Philip Massinger

The soul is strong that trusts in goodness. — Philip Massinger

He is not valiant that dares die, but he that boldly bears calamity. — Philip Massinger

Without good company all dainties
Lose their true relish, and like painted grapes,
Are only seen, not tasted. — Philip Massinger

I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours. — Philip Massinger

Black detraction will find faults where they are not. — Philip Massinger

Great men,
Till they have gained their ends, are giants in
Their promises, but, those obtained, weak pigmies
In their performance. And it is a maxim
Allowed among them, so they may deceive,
They may swear anything; for the queen of love,
As they hold constantly, does never punish,
But smile, at lovers' perjuries. — Philip Massinger

Though the desire of fame be the last weakness Wise men put off. — Philip Massinger

Greatness, with private men Esteem'd a blessing, is to me a curse; And we, whom, for our high births, they conclude The happy freemen, are the only slaves. Happy the golden mean! — Philip Massinger

Let us love temperately, things violent last not. — Philip Massinger

Pleasures of worse natures Are gladly entertained, and they that shun us Practice in private sports the stews would blush at. — Philip Massinger

Be wise; soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise. — Philip Massinger

My dancing days are past. — Philip Massinger

Virgin me no virgins! I must have you lose that name, or you lose me. — Philip Massinger

Such as ne'er saw swans May think crows beautiful. — Philip Massinger

A diamond, though set in horns, is still a diamond, and sparkles in purest gold. — Philip Massinger

Like a rough orator, that brings more truth Than rhetoric, to make good his accusation. — Philip Massinger

Death hath a thousand doors to let out life: I shall find one. — Philip Massinger

Nor custom, nor example, nor cast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin. — Philip Massinger

Honour is
Virtue's allowed ascent: honour that clasps
All perfect justice in her arms; that craves
No more respect than that she gives; that does
Nothing but what she'll suffer. — Philip Massinger

Ill news are swallow-winged, but what is good walks on crutches. — Philip Massinger

Many good purposes lie in the churchyard. — Philip Massinger

Cheerful looks make every dish a feast, and it is that which crowns a welcome. — Philip Massinger

Factions among yourselves; preferring such
To offices and honors, as ne'er read
The elements of saving policy;
But deeply skilled in all the principles
That usher to destruction. — Philip Massinger

Virtue, thou in rags, may challenge more than vice set off with all the trim of greatness. — Philip Massinger

Revenge, that thirsty dropsy of our souls, makes us covet that which hurts us most. — Philip Massinger

Ambition, in a private man is a vice, is in a prince the virtue. — Philip Massinger

0 summer friendship, whose flat-tering leaves shadowed us in our prosperity, With the least gust, drop off in the autumn of adversity. — Philip Massinger

For any man to match above his rank is but to sell his liberty. — Philip Massinger

The sum of all that makes a just man happy
Consists in the well choosing of his wife:
And there, well to discharge it, does require
Equality of years, of birth, of fortune;
For beauty being poor, and not cried up
By birth or wealth, can truly mix with neither.
And wealth, when there's such difference in years,
And fair descent, must make the yoke uneasy. — Philip Massinger

This is the Jew that Shakespeare drew. — Philip Massinger

Petitions, not sweetened with gold, are but unsavory and oft refused; or, if received, are pocketed, not read. — Philip Massinger

It is true fortitude to stand firm against
All shocks of fate, when cowards faint and die
In fear to suffer more calamity. — Philip Massinger

Tis the only discipline we are born for; all studies else are but as circular lines, and death the center where they all must meet. — Philip Massinger

What can innocence hope for, When such as sit her judges are corrupted! — Philip Massinger

He that would govern others first should be master of himself. — Philip Massinger

I in my own house am an emperor, And will defend what's mine. — Philip Massinger

They are only safe That know to soothe the prince's appetite, And serve his lusts. — Philip Massinger

Malice scorned, puts out itself; but argued, give a kind of credit to a false accusation. — Philip Massinger

Nay, droop not, fellows; innocence should be bold. — Philip Massinger

The over curious are not over wise. — Philip Massinger

Giants in
Their promises, but those obtained, weak pigmies
In their performance. — Philip Massinger

He that knows no guilt can know no fear. — Philip Massinger