Philip Massinger Quotes

Great men,
Till they have gained their ends, are giants in
Their promises, but, those obtained, weak pigmies
In their performance. And it is a maxim
Allowed among them, so they may deceive,
They may swear anything; for the queen of love,
As they hold constantly, does never punish,
But smile, at lovers' perjuries.

Death hath a thousand doors to let out life: I shall find one.

My dancing days are past.

Black detraction will find faults where they are not.

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.

Nor custom, nor example, nor cast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin.

Honour is
Virtue's allowed ascent: honour that clasps
All perfect justice in her arms; that craves
No more respect than that she gives; that does
Nothing but what she'll suffer.

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.

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

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

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.

Petitions, not sweetened with gold, are but unsavory and oft refused; or, if received, are pocketed, not read.

As the index tells us the contents of stories and directs to the particular chapter, even so does the outward habit and superficial order of garments (in man or woman) give us a taste of the spirit, and demonstratively point (as it were a manual note from the margin) all the internal quality of the soul; and there cannot be a more evident, palpable, gross manifestation of poor, degenerate, dunghilly blood and breeding than a rude, unpolished, disordered, and slovenly outside.

He is not valiant that dares die, but he that boldly bears calamity.

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.

Gold
the picklock that never fails.

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.

Patience, the beggar's virtue, shall find no harbor here.

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

They are only safe That know to soothe the prince's appetite, And serve his lusts.

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.

To doubt is worse than to have lost; and to despair is but to antedate those miseries that must fall on us.

This is the Jew that Shakespeare drew.

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.

You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels.

I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours.

How sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman! It is so seldom heard that, when it speaks,it ravishes all senses.

It is true fortitude to stand firm against
All shocks of fate, when cowards faint and die
In fear to suffer more calamity.

True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn.

Greatness, with private men Esteem'd a blessing, is to me a curse; And we, whom, for our high births, they conclude The happy freemen, are the only slaves. Happy the golden mean!

Without good company all dainties
Lose their true relish, and like painted grapes,
Are only seen, not tasted.

A willing mind makes a hard journey easy.

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

Such as ne'er saw swans May think crows beautiful.

For any man to match above his rank is but to sell his liberty.

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

What can innocence hope for, When such as sit her judges are corrupted!

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

Ill news are swallow-winged, but what is good walks on crutches.

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

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.

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.

Giants in
Their promises, but those obtained, weak pigmies
In their performance.

The soul is strong that trusts in goodness.

The good needs fear no law, It is his safety and the bad man's awe.

Let us love temperately, things violent last not.

A diamond, though set in horns, is still a diamond, and sparkles in purest gold.

He that knows no guilt can know no fear.