Philip Massinger Quotes

48 Sourced Quotes

Be wise;
Soar not too high to fall; but stoop, to rise.

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

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

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

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

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

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
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
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
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
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
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
1 October What art can do, we promise; physic's hand As apt is to destroy as to preserve, If Heaven make not the med'cine: all this while, Our skill hath combat hell with his disease; But 'tis so arm'd, and a deep melancholy, To be such in part with death, we are in fear The grave must mock our labours.

Philip Massinger
1 October We have given her, sir, A sleepy potion, that will hold her long, That she may be less sensible of the torment The searching of the wound will put her to.

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

Philip Massinger
WELL.: Thou wert my surgeon; you must tell no tales; Those days are done. I will pay you in private.

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

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

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

Philip Massinger
What a bridge
Of glass I walk upon, over a river
Of certain ruin! Mine own weighty fears
Cracking what should support me:—And those helps,
Which confidence yields to others, are from me
Ravish'd by doubts, and wilful jealousy.

Philip Massinger
Virtue, if not in action, is a vice,
And, when we move not forward, we go backward.

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
Some undone widow sits upon mine arm,
And takes away the use of it; and my sword,
Glued to my scabbard with wronged orphans' tears,
Will not be drawn.

Philip Massinger
But in our Sanazarro 'tis not so,
He being pure and tried gold; and any stamp
Of grace, to make him current to the world,
The duke is pleased to give him, will add honour
To the great bestower; for he, though allow'd
Companion to his master, still preserves
His majesty in full lustre.

Philip Massinger