John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 281
| Andrew Fletcher. (1655–1716) |
| 3050 |
| I knew a very wise man that believed that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation. |
| Letter to the Marquis of Montrose, the Earl of Rothes, etc. |
| Nathaniel Lee. (1653–1692) |
| 3051 |
| Then he will talk—good gods! how he will talk! 1 |
| Alexander the Great. Act i. Sc. 3. |
| 3052 |
| Vows with so much passion, swears with so much grace, That ’t is a kind of heaven to be deluded by him. |
| Alexander the Great. Act i. Sc. 3. |
| 3053 |
| When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war. |
| Alexander the Great. Act iv. Sc. 2. |
| 3054 |
| ’T is beauty calls, and glory shows the way. 2 |
| Alexander the Great. Act iv. Sc. 2. |
| 3055 |
| Man, false man, smiling, destructive man! |
| Theodosius. Act iii. Sc. 2. |
| John Norris. (1657–1711) |
| 3056 |
| How fading are the joys we dote upon! Like apparitions seen and gone. But those which soonest take their flight Are the most exquisite and strong,— Like angels’ visits, short and bright; 3 Mortality ’s too weak to bear them long. |
| The Parting. |
| Note 1. See Beaumont and Fletcher, Quotation 10. [back] |
| Note 2. ”Leads the way” in the stage editions, which contain various interpolations, among them— See the conquering hero comes! Sound the trumpet, beat the drums!— which was first used by Handel in “Joshua,” and afterwards transferred to “Judas Maccabæus.” The text of both oratorios was written by Dr. Thomas Morell, a clergyman. [back] |
| Note 3. Like those of angels, short and far between.—Robert Blair: The Grave, line 588. Like angel visits, few and far between.—Thomas Campbell: Pleasures of Hope, part ii. line 378. [back] |