John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
1941 Franis Baon 1561-1626 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 1941 |
| AUTHOR: | Francis Bacon (1561–1626) |
| QUOTATION: | Virtue is like precious odours,—most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Of Adversity. |
| Note 1. As aromatic plants bestow No spicy fragrance while they grow; But crushed or trodden to the ground, Diffuse their balmy sweets around. Oliver Goldsmith: The Captivity, act i. The good are better made by ill, As odours crushed are sweeter still. Samuel Rogers: Jacqueline, stanza 3. [back] |