book ii
. line 804._
THOMAS HEYWOOD. ---- -1649.
The world 's a theatre, the earth a stage Which God and Nature do with actors fill.[194-5]
_Apology for Actors_ (1612).
I hold he loves me best that calls me Tom.
_Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells._
Seven cities warred for Homer being dead, Who living had no roofe to shrowd his head.[194-6]
_Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells._
Her that ruled the rost in the kitchen.[194-7]
_History of Women_ (_ed. 1624_). _Page 286._
FOOTNOTES:
[194-5] See Shakespeare, page 69.
[194-6] See Burton, page 189.
[194-7] See Heywood, page 11.
JOHN SELDEN. 1584-1654.
Equity is a roguish thing. For Law we have a measure, know what to trust to; Equity is according to the conscience of him that is Chancellor, and as that is larger or narrower, so is Equity. 'T is all one as if they should make the standard for the measure we call a "foot" a Chancellor's foot; what an uncertain measure would this be! One Chancellor has a long foot, another a short foot, a third an indifferent foot. 'T is the same thing in the Chancellor's conscience.
_Table Talk. Equity._
Old friends are best. King James used to call for his old shoes; they were easiest for his feet.[195-1]
_Table Talk. Friends._
Humility is a virtue all preach, none practise; and yet everybody is content to hear.
_Table Talk. Humility._
'T is not the drinking that is to be blamed, but the excess.
_Table Talk. Humility._
Commonly we say a judgment falls upon a man for something in him we cannot abide.
_Table Talk. Judgments._
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 't is an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.
_Table Talk. Law._
No man is the wiser for his learning.
_Table Talk. Learning._
Wit and wisdom are born with a man.
_Table Talk. Learning._
Few men make themselves masters of the things they write or speak.
_Table Talk. Learning._
Take a straw and throw it up into the air,--you may see by that which way the wind is.
_Table Talk. Libels._
Philosophy is nothing but discretion.
_Table Talk. Philosophy._
Marriage is a desperate thing.
_Table Talk. Marriage._
Thou little thinkest what a little foolery governs the world.[195-2]
_Table Talk. Pope._
They that govern the most make the least noise.
_Table Talk. Power._
Syllables govern the world.
_Table Talk. Power._
Never king dropped out of the clouds.
_Table Talk. Power._
Never tell your resolution beforehand.
_Table Talk. Wisdom._
Wise men say nothing in dangerous times.
_Table Talk. Wisdom._
FOOTNOTES:
[195-1] See Bacon, page 171.
[195-2] Behold, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.--OXENSTIERN (1583-1654).
WILLIAM DRUMMOND. 1585-1649.
God never had a church but there, men say, The Devil a chapel hath raised by some wyles.[196-1] I doubted of this saw, till on a day I westward spied great Edinburgh's Saint Gyles.
_Posthumous Poems._
FOOTNOTES:
[196-1] See Burton, page 192.
FRANCIS BEAUMONT. 1586-1616.
What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been So nimble and so full of subtile flame As if that every one from whence they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, And resolved to live a fool the rest Of his dull life.
_Letter to Ben Jonson._
Here are sands, ignoble things, Dropt from the ruined sides of kings.
_On the Tombs of Westminster Abbey._
It is always good When a man has two irons in the fire.
_The Faithful Friends. Act i. Sc. 2._
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
(FRANCIS BEAUMONT and JOHN FLETCHER.)
All your better deeds Shall be in water writ, but this in marble.[197-1]
_Philaster. Act v. Sc. 3._
Upon my burned body lie lightly, gentle earth.
_The Maid's Tragedy. Act i. Sc. 2._
A soul as white as heaven.
_The Maid's Tragedy. Act iv. Sc. 1._
But they that are above Have ends in everything.[197-2]
_The Maid's Tragedy. Act v. Sc. 1._
It shew'd discretion, the best part of valour.[197-3]
_A King and No King. Act iv. Sc. 3._
There is a method in man's wickedness,-- It grows up by degrees.[197-4]
_A King and No King. Act v. Sc. 4._
As cold as cucumbers.
_Cupid's Revenge. Act i. Sc. 1._
Calamity is man's true touchstone.[197-5]
_Four Plays in One: The Triumph of Honour. Sc. 1._
Kiss till the cow comes home.
_Scornful Lady. Act iii. Sc. 1._
It would talk,-- Lord! how it talked![197-6]
_Scornful Lady. Act v. Sc. 1._
Beggars must be no choosers.[197-7]
_Scornful Lady. Act v. Sc. 3._
No better than you should be.[197-8]
_The Coxcomb. Act iv. Sc. 3._
From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot.[198-1]
_The Honest Man's Fortune. Act ii. Sc. 2._
One foot in the grave.[198-2]
_The Little French Lawyer. Act i. Sc. 1._
Go to grass.
_The Little French Lawyer. Act iv. Sc. 7._
There is no jesting with edge tools.[198-3]
_The Little French Lawyer. Act iv. Sc. 7._
Though I say it that should not say it.
_Wit at Several Weapons. Act ii. Sc. 2._
I name no parties.[198-4]
_Wit at Several Weapons. Act ii. Sc. 3._
Whistle, and she'll come to you.[198-5]
_Wit Without Money. Act iv. Sc. 4._
Let the world slide.[198-6]
_Wit Without Money. Act v. Sc. 2._
The fit 's upon me now! Come quickly, gentle lady; The fit 's upon me now.
_Wit Without Money. Act v. Sc. 4._
He comes not in my books.[198-7]
_The Widow. Act i. Sc. 1._
Death hath so many doors to let out life.[198-8]
_The Customs of the Country. Act ii. Sc. 2._
Of all the paths [that] lead to a woman's love Pity 's the straightest.[198-9]
_The Knight of Malta. Act i. Sc. 1._
Nothing can cover his high fame but heaven; No pyramids set off his memories, But the eternal substance of his greatness,-- To which I leave him.
_The False One. Act ii. Sc. 1._
Thou wilt scarce be a man before thy mother.[199-1]
_Love's Cure. Act ii. Sc. 2._
What 's one man's poison, signor, Is another's meat or drink.[199-2]
_Love's Cure. Act iii. Sc. 2._
Primrose, first-born child of Ver, Merry springtime's harbinger.
_The Two Noble Kinsmen. Act i. Sc. 1._
O great corrector of enormous times, Shaker of o'er-rank states, thou grand decider Of dusty and old titles, that healest with blood The earth when it is sick, and curest the world O' the pleurisy of people!
_The Two Noble Kinsmen. Act v. Sc. 1._
FOOTNOTES:
[197-1] See Shakespeare, page 100.
[197-2] See Shakespeare, page 145.
[197-3] See Shakespeare, page 87.
[197-4] Nemo repente fuit turpissimus (No man ever became extremely wicked all at once).--JUVENAL: _ii. 83._
Ainsi que la vertu, le crime a ses degrés (As virtue has its degrees, so has vice).--RACINE: _Phédre, act iv. sc. 2._
[197-5] Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes viros (Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men).--SENECA: _De Providentia, v. 9._
[197-6] Then he will talk--good gods! how he will talk!--LEE: _Alexander the Great, act i. sc. 3._
[197-7] See Heywood, page 14.
[197-8] She is no better than she should be.--FIELDING: _The Temple Beau, act iv. sc. 3._
[198-1] See Shakespeare, page 51.
[198-2] An old doting fool, with one foot already in the grave.--PLUTARCH: _On the Training of Children._
[198-3] It is no jesting with edge tools.--_The True Tragedy of Richard III._ (_1594._)
[198-4] The use of "party" in the sense of "person" occurs in the Book of Common Prayer, More's "Utopia," Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Fuller, and other old English writers.
[198-5] Whistle, and I'll come to ye.--BURNS: _Whistle, etc._
[198-6] See Shakespeare, page 72.
[198-7] See Shakespeare, page 50.
[198-8] See Webster, page 180.
[198-9] Pity 's akin to love.--SOUTHERNE: _Oroonoka, act ii. sc. 1._
Pity swells the tide of love.--YOUNG: _Night Thoughts, night iii. line 107._
[199-1] But strive still to be a man before your mother.--COWPER: _Connoisseur. Motto of No. iii._
[199-2] Quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum (What is food to one may be fierce poison to others).--LUCRETIUS: _iv. 637._
GEORGE WITHER. 1588-1667.
Shall I, wasting in despair, Die because a woman's fair? Or make pale my cheeks with care, 'Cause another's rosy are? Be she fairer than the day, Or the flowery meads in May, If she be not so to me, What care I how fair she be?[199-3]
_The Shepherd's Resolution._
Jack shall pipe and Gill shall dance.
_Poem on Christmas._
Hang sorrow! care will kill a cat,[199-4] And therefore let 's be merry.
_Poem on Christmas._
Though I am young, I scorn to flit On the wings of borrowed wit.
_The Shepherd's Hunting._
And I oft have heard defended,-- Little said is soonest mended.
_The Shepherd's Hunting._
And he that gives us in these days New Lords may give us new laws.
_Contented Man's Morrice._
FOOTNOTES:
[199-3] See Raleigh, page 26.
[199-4] See Jonson, page 177.
THOMAS HOBBES. 1588-1679.
For words are wise men's counters,--they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools.
_The Leviathan. Part i . Chap. iv._
No arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
_The Leviathan.