William Congreve Quotes

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• Say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved.

  William Congreve

  Love, Life, Has Beens

  TheWay of theWorld act 2, sc. 1 (1700)

  52 Copy quote

• He who closes his ears to the views of others shows little confidence in the integrity of his own views.

  William Congreve

  Confidence, Integrity, Views

  25 Copy quote

• Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

  William Congreve

  Hell Hath No Fury, Mourning, Chocolate

  "The Mourning Bride". Book by William Congreve, 1697.

  22 Copy quote

• Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing.

  William Congreve

  Expectations, Joy, Risk

  William. II Congreve William Wycherley (John Vanbrugh and Farquhar George), William. II Wycherley, William Congreve, George Farquhar, John Vanbrugh (1840). “Dramatic Works with Biographical and Critical Notices by Leigh Hunt. - London, Moxon 1840”, p.229

  14 Copy quote

• Music has charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

  William Congreve

  Inspirational, Music, Rocks

  1697 Almeria to Leonora. The Mourning Bride, act 1, sc.1.

  67 Copy quote

• He that first cries out stop thief, is often he that has stolen the treasure.

  William Congreve

  Honesty, Thieves, Treasure

  'Love for Love' (1695) act 3, sc. 14

  5 Copy quote

• Women are like tricks by sleight of hand, Which, to admire, we should not understand

  William Congreve

  Hands, Understanding, Admiration

  1695 Valentine. Love for Love, act 4, sc.21.

  58 Copy quote

• There are times when sense may be unseasonable, as well as truth.

  William Congreve

  May, Wells, Timeliness

  William Congreve (1735). “The Double-Dealer, a comedy, etc”, p.17

  13 Copy quote

• Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear.

  William Congreve

  Inspirational, Fear, War

  62 Copy quote

• Women like flames have a destroying power; never to be quenched till they themselves devour.

  William Congreve

  Women, Flames, Destroying

  10 Copy quote

• No mask like open truth to cover lies, As to go naked is the best disguise.

  William Congreve

  Honesty, Lying, Deceit

  The Double Dealer act 5, sc. 6 (1694)

  11 Copy quote

• Delay not till tomorrow to be wise; tomorrow's sun to thee may neve rise.

  William Congreve

  Wise, Procrastination, Delay

  11 Copy quote

• Nothing but you can lay hold of my mind, and that can lay hold of nothing but you.

  William Congreve

  Mind, Of My Mind, Lays

  16 Copy quote

• Love's but the frailty of the mind, When 'tis not with ambition joined; A sickly flame, which if not fed expires; And feeding, wastes in self-consuming fires.

  William Congreve

  Ambition, Fire, Self

  1700 The Way of the World, act 3, sc.12.

  14 Copy quote

• Courtship is to marriage, as a very witty prologue to a very dull play.

  William Congreve

  Marriage, Witty, Play

  'The Old Bachelor' (1693) act 5, sc. 10

  11 Copy quote

• But say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved. To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old.

  William Congreve

  Sweet, Wish, One Day

  William Congreve (1706). “The Way of the World: A Comedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre in Lincolns-Inn-Fields, by His Majesty's Servants. Written by Mr. Congreve”, p.13

  13 Copy quote

• It is the business of a comic poet to paint the vices and follies of human kind.

  William Congreve

  Business, Kindness, Vices

  'The Double Dealer' (1694) epistle dedicatory

  5 Copy quote

• I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull.

  William Congreve

  Stupid People, Stupidity, Growing

  William. II Congreve William Wycherley (John Vanbrugh and Farquhar George), William. II Wycherley, William Congreve, George Farquhar, John Vanbrugh (1840). “Dramatic Works with Biographical and Critical Notices by Leigh Hunt. - London, Moxon 1840”, p.155

  13 Copy quote

• Wit must be foiled by wit: cut a diamond with a diamond.

  William Congreve

  Cutting, Jewelry, Diamond Rings

  William Congreve (1797). “The Double Dealer: A Comedy”, p.22

  11 Copy quote

• She likes herself, yet others hates, For that which in herself she prizes; And while she laughs at them, forgets She is the thing that she despises.

  William Congreve

  Hate, Laughing, Likes

  William Congreve (1818). “The Poetical Works of William Congreve. With the Life of the Author. Cooke's Edition, Etc. [With a Portrait.]”, p.67

  8 Copy quote

• O, she is the antidote to desire.

  William Congreve

  Desire, Antidote

  John Bell, Joseph Addison, Michael Arne, John Banks, John Brown (1796). “British Theatre: Bonduca”

  6 Copy quote

• Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure; Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.

  William Congreve

  Marriage, Grief, High Heels

  "The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar: With Biographical and Critical Notices".

  9 Copy quote

• Every man plays the fool once in his live, but to marry is playing the fool all one's life long.

  William Congreve

  Funny, Men, Play

  John Bell, Joseph Addison, Michael Arne, John Banks, John Brown (1796). “British Theatre: Bonduca”

  4 Copy quote

• I know a lady that loves to talk so incessantly, she won't give an echo fair play; she has that everlasting rotation of tongue that an echo must wait till she dies before it can catch her last words!

  William Congreve

  Echoes, Play, Giving

  William. II Congreve William Wycherley (John Vanbrugh and Farquhar George), William. II Wycherley, William Congreve, George Farquhar, John Vanbrugh (1840). “Dramatic Works with Biographical and Critical Notices by Leigh Hunt. - London, Moxon 1840”, p.268

  5 Copy quote

• They are at the end of the gallery; retired to their tea and scandal, according to their ancient custom.

  William Congreve

  Tea, Scandal, Ancient

  'The Double Dealer' (1694) act 1, sc. 1

  9 Copy quote

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