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Oliver Goldsmith Quotes - Page 4

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You, that are going to be married, think things can never be done too fast: but we that are old, and know what we are about, must elope methodically, madam.

You, that are going to be married, think things can never be done too fast: but we that are old, and know what we are about, must elope methodically, madam.

Oliver Goldsmith
Marriage, Thinking, Done
'The Good-Natured Man' (1768) act 2

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

Oliver Goldsmith
Giving, Brain, Intelligence
'She Stoops to Conquer' (1773) act 1, sc. 1, song

To make a fine gentleman, several trades are required, but chiefly a barber.

Oliver Goldsmith
Gentleman, Barbers, Fine
Oliver Goldsmith (1854). “The miscellaneous works of Oliver Goldsmith: including a variety of pieces now first collected”, p.23

To be poor, and to seem poor, is a certain method never to rise.

Oliver Goldsmith
Poverty, Poor, Method
Oliver Goldsmith (1841). “Essays”, p.30

For just experience tells, in every soil, That those that think must govern those that toil.

Oliver Goldsmith
Thinking, Justice, Toil
Oliver Goldsmith (1837). “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B.: Including a Variety of Pieces”, p.27

Life at the greatest and best is but a froward child, that must be humored and coaxed a little till it falls asleep, and then all the care is over.

Oliver Goldsmith
Life, Children, Fall
Oliver Goldsmith, Sir James Prior (1851). “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith: Including a Variety of Pieces Now First Collected”, p.197

If frugality were established in the state, and if our expenses were laid out to meet needs rather than superfluities of life, there might be fewer wants, and even fewer pleasures, but infinitely more happiness.

Oliver Goldsmith
Life, Happiness, Inner Peace

The dog, to gain some private ends, Went mad, and bit the man.

Oliver Goldsmith
Dog, Men, Mad
"The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith, (Ch. 17), 1766.

Were I to be angry at men being fools, I could here find ample room for declamation; but, alas! I have been a fool myself; and why should I be angry with them for being something so natural to every child of humanity?

Oliver Goldsmith
Children, Men, Humanity
Oliver Goldsmith (1835). “His Works”, p.168

Politeness is the result of good sense and good nature.

Oliver Goldsmith
Results, Politeness, Good Nature
Oliver Goldsmith, Sir James Prior (1837). “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: Letters from a citizen of the world, to his friend in the East. A familiar introduction to the study of natural history”, p.155

A modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation.

Oliver Goldsmith
Creation, Modest, Whole
Oliver Goldsmith (2012). “She Stoops to Conquer”, p.13, Courier Corporation

Prudery is ignorance.

Oliver Goldsmith
Ignorance

Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's close, Up yonder hill the village murmur rose; There as I passed, with careless steps and slow, The mingling notes came soften'd from below; The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung, The sober herd that low'd to meet their young; The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, The playful children just let loose from school; The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind; These all in sweet confusion sought the shade, And fill'd each pause the nightingale had made.

Oliver Goldsmith
Dog, Sweet, Children
Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted VILLage”

You will always find that those are most apt to boast of national merit, who have little or not merit of their own to depend on . . .

Oliver Goldsmith
War, Merit, Littles
Oliver Goldsmith (1854). “The Works of Oliver Goldsmith: The bee. Essays. Unacknowledged essays. Prefaces, introductions, etc”, p.283

Take a dollar from a thousand and it will be a thousand no more.

Oliver Goldsmith
Money, Dollars, Thousand

The nakedness of the indigent world may be clothed from the trimmings of the vain.

Oliver Goldsmith
World, May, Poverty
Oliver Goldsmith (1823). “The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale”, p.271

If the soul be happily disposed, every thing becomes capable of affording entertainment, and distress will almost want a name.

Oliver Goldsmith
Names, Soul, Entertainment
Oliver Goldsmith (1839). “Poems and essays”, p.104

What is genius or courage without a heart?

Oliver Goldsmith
Leadership, Courage, Heart
Oliver Goldsmith (1803). “The Beauties of Goldsmith, Or, The Complete Treasury of Genius: To which is Prefixed the Life of the Author”, p.106

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

Oliver Goldsmith
Thank You, Pain, Want
Oliver Goldsmith (1837). “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B.: Including a Variety of Pieces”, p.14

It is not easy to recover an art when once lost.

Oliver Goldsmith
Art, Easy, Lost
Oliver Goldsmith, Sir James Prior (1856). “The Miscellaneous Works: The bee. Essays. An inquiry into the present state of polite learning in Europe. Prefaces and introductions”, p.380

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

Oliver Goldsmith
Mind, Body, Active
Oliver Goldsmith, David Masson (1869). “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith”, p.144

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
Science, Men, Mind
Oliver Goldsmith (1823). “The Vicar of Wakefield, Essays, and Poems”, p.500

He watched and wept and prayed and felt for all

Oliver Goldsmith
Sympathy, Felt
Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted VILLage”

Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravelled, fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.

Oliver Goldsmith
Missing You, Goodbye, Missing Someone
'The Traveller' (1764) l. 7

Where wealth accumulates, men decay.

Oliver Goldsmith
Men, Decay, Wealth

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