John Dryden Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old John Dryden quotes, John Dryden sayings, and John Dryden proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck. John Dryden
A mob is the scum that rises up most when the nation boils. John Dryden
Kings fight for empires, madmen for applause. John Dryden
All empire is no more than power in trust. John Dryden
There is a pleasure in being mad, which none but madmen know. John Dryden
All delays are dangerous in war. John Dryden
Kings fight for empires, madmen for applause. John Dryden
Self-defense is Nature's eldest law. John Dryden
Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten. John Dryden
Be slow to resolve, but quick in performance. John Dryden
Let cheerfulness on happy fortune wait. John Dryden
We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. John Dryden
Fortune confounds the wise, And when they least expect it turns the dice. John Dryden
Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes. John Dryden
Swift and resistless through the land he pass'd / Like that bold Greek who did the east subdue, / And made to battles such heroic haste / As if on wings of victory he flew. John Dryden
Death, in itself, is nothing; but we fear, to be we know not what, we know not where. John Dryden
He made all countries where he came his own; / And, viewing monarchs' secret arts of sway, / A royal factor for their kingdoms lay. / Thus, banished David spent abroad his time, / When to be God's anointed was his crime; / And, when restored, made his proud neighbours rue / Those choice remarks he from his travels drew. / Nor is he only by afflictions shown / To conquer others' realms, but rule his own. John Dryden
What, start at this! when sixty years have spread. Their grey experience o'er thy hoary head? Is this the all observing age could gain? Or hast thou known the world so long in vain? John Dryden
And to explain what your forefathers meant, By real presence in the sacrament, After long fencing pushed against a wall, Your salvo comes, that he's not there at all: John Dryden
Some sprinkled freckles on his face were seen, Whose dusk set off the whiteness of the skin. John Dryden
Thou spring'st a leak already in thy crown, / A flaw is in thy ill-bak'd vessel found; / 'Tis hollow, and returns a jarring sound, / Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command, / Unwrought, and easy to the potter's hand: / Now take the mould; / now bend thy mind to feel / The first sharp motions of the forming wheel. John Dryden
Like eager Romans e’er all Rites were past, / Did let too soon the sacred Eagle fly. John Dryden
On eagle’s wings immortal scandals fly, / While virtuous actions are but born and die. John Dryden
How easy ’tis, when / Destiny proves kind, / With full-spread sails to run before the wind! John Dryden
Better to hunt in fields, for health unbought, / Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught, / The wise, for cure, on exercise depend; / God never made his work, for man to mend. John Dryden
Tis Fate that flings the dice, And as she flings Of kings makes peasants, And of peasants kings. John Dryden
She knows her man, and when you rant and swear, / Can draw you to her with a single hair. John Dryden
None are so busy as the fool and the knave. John Dryden
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age. John Dryden
Can flowers but droop in absence of the sun,/ Which waked their sweets? John Dryden