John Gay Quotes

108 Sourced Quotes

How happy could I be with either,
Were t'other dear charmer away!

John Gay
Lest men suspect your tale untrue,
Keep probability in view.

John Gay
In every age and clime we see Two of a trade can never agree.

John Gay
But his kiss was so sweet, and so closely he pressed, that I languished and pined till I granted the rest.

John Gay
Before the Barn-Door crowing,
The Cock by Hens attended,
His Eyes around him throwing,
Stands for a while suspended:
Then One he singles from the Crew,
And cheers the happy Hen;
With how do you do, and how do you do,
And how do you do again.

John Gay
They'll tell thee, sailors, when away,
In ev'ry port a mistress find.

John Gay
My tongue within my lips I rein:
For who talks much must talk in vain.

John Gay
Polly: Then all my sorrows are at an end.
Mrs Peachum: A mighty likely speech, in troth, for a wench who is just married!

John Gay
Remote from cities liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was silver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him sage.

John Gay
Basically, I no longer work for anything but the sensation I have while working.

John Gay
Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!

John Gay
Macheath: And I would love you all the day,
Polly: Every night would kiss and play,
Macheath: If with me you'd fondly stray
Polly: Over the hills and far away.

John Gay
Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most? There are not many husbands and wives, who can bear the charges of plaguing one another in a handsome way.

John Gay
Studious of elegance and ease,
Myself alone I seek to please.

John Gay
There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one's self.

John Gay
Reproachful speech from either side
The want of argument supplied;
They rail, reviled; as often ends
The contests of disputing friends.

John Gay
And when a lady's in the case,
You know all other things give place.

John Gay
Give me, kind Heaven, a private station,
A mind serene for contemplation:
Title and profit I resign;
The post of honour shall be mine.

John Gay
Is there no hope? the sick man said;
The silent doctor shook his head.

John Gay
All in the Downs the fleet was moored,
The streamers waving in the wind,
When black-eyed Susan came aboard.

John Gay
'T is woman that seduces all mankind;
By her we first were taught the wheedling arts.

John Gay
Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise.
For envy is a kind of praise.

John Gay
My lodging is on the cold ground,
And hard, very hard, is my fare,
But that which grieves me more
Is the coldness of my dear.

John Gay
Man may escape from rope and gun;
Nay, some have outlived the doctor's pill:
Who takes a woman must be undone,
That basilisk is sure to kill.
The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets,
So he that tastes woman, woman, woman,
He that tastes woman, ruin meets.

John Gay
That raven on yon left-hand oak
(Curse on his ill-betiding croak!)
Bodes me no good.

John Gay
A justice with grave justices shall sit;
He praises their wisdom, they admire his wit.

John Gay
'Twas when the seas were roaring
With hollow blasts of wind,
A damsel lay deploring,
All on a rock reclined.

John Gay
A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;
Ten thousands are devour'd by men.
An open foe may prove a curse,
but a pretend friend is worse.

John Gay
An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse.

John Gay
If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.

John Gay