Oliver Goldsmith
Ireland
10 Nov 1728 // 4 Apr 1774
Writer, Poet
10 Nov 1728 // 4 Apr 1774
Writer, Poet
Quotes
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To the last moment of his breath,
On hope the wretch relies;
And even the pang preceding death
Bids expectation rise.
On hope the wretch relies;
And even the pang preceding death
Bids expectation rise.
The Captivity
And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.
Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog
Good people all, with one accord,
Lament for Madam Blaize,
Who never wanted a good word
From those who spoke her praise.
Lament for Madam Blaize,
Who never wanted a good word
From those who spoke her praise.
Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize
Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
The Captivity
While Resignation gently slopes away,
And all his prospects brightening to the last,
His heaven commences ere the world be past.
And all his prospects brightening to the last,
His heaven commences ere the world be past.
The Deserted Village
Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies.
Methinks her patient sons before me stand,
Where the broad ocean leans against the land.
Methinks her patient sons before me stand,
Where the broad ocean leans against the land.
The Traveller
Absence, like death, sets a seal on the image of those we love: we cannot realize the intervening changes which time may have effected.
As aromatic plants bestow
No spicy fragrance while they grow;
But crush'd or trodden to the ground,
Diffuse their balmy sweets around.
No spicy fragrance while they grow;
But crush'd or trodden to the ground,
Diffuse their balmy sweets around.
The Captivity
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.
His pity gave ere charity began.
Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side.
The Deserted Village
Forc'd from their homes, a melancholy train,
To traverse climes beyond the western main;
Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around,
And Niagara stuns with thundering sound.
To traverse climes beyond the western main;
Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around,
And Niagara stuns with thundering sound.
The Traveller
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays