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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  William Congreve 1670-1729 John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

William Congreve 1670-1729 John Bartlett

 
1
    Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
          The Mourning Bride. Act i. Sc. 1.
2
    By magic numbers and persuasive sound.
          The Mourning Bride. Act i. Sc. 1.
3
    Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. 1
          The Mourning Bride. Act iii. Sc. 8.
4
    For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds,
And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.
          The Mourning Bride. Act v. Sc. 12.
5
    If there ’s delight in love, ’t is when I see
That heart which others bleed for, bleed for me.
          The Way of the World, Act iii. Sc. 12.
6
    Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude.
          Love for Love. Act ii. Sc. 5.
7
    I came up stairs into the world, for I was born in a cellar. 2
          Love for Love. Act ii. Sc. 7.
8
    Hannibal was a very pretty fellow in those days.
          The Old Bachelor. Act ii. Sc. 2.
9
    Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure;
Married in haste, we may repent at leisure. 3
          The Old Bachelor. Act v. Sc. 1.
10
    Defer not till to-morrow to be wise,
To-morrow’s sun to thee may never rise. 4
          Letter to Cobham.
 
Note 1.
We shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury of a disappointed woman.—Colley Cibber: Love’s Last Shift, act iv. [back]
Note 2.
Born in a cellar, and living in a garret.—Samuel Foote: The Author, act 2.

Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.—Lord Byron: A Sketch. [back]
Note 3.
See Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Quotation 10. [back]
Note 4.
Be wise to-day, ’t is madness to defer.—Edward Young: Night Thoughts, night i. line 390. [back]