Ben Jonson Quotes: Pearls of Wisdom from the Elizabethan Playwright and Poet
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Ben Jonson (c. 1572 – 6 August 1637) was an English playwright, poet, and literary critic during the Jacobean and Caroline eras. He is best known for his satirical plays, including "Volpone" and "The Alchemist," and his lyric poetry. Jonson was a contemporary and friend of William Shakespeare, and he is considered one of the major figures of English Renaissance literature. Some key points about Ben Jonson include:
1. Dramatic Works: Jonson's plays are known for their wit, humor, and satirical elements. He was a master of the comedy of humors, a dramatic form that depicted characters dominated by a single trait.
2. Poetry: In addition to his plays, Jonson wrote numerous poems. His works include epigrams, elegies, and epistles. One of his most famous poems is "To Penshurst," celebrating the virtues of a country life.
3. Controversial Figure: Jonson was a robust and often controversial personality. He engaged in literary feuds and was known for his critical views on other writers of his time.
4. Literary Legacy: Jonson's impact on English literature is significant. His plays and poetry influenced later writers, and his critical writings helped shape literary conventions of the time.
5. Masques: Jonson also contributed to the popular Jacobean form of courtly entertainment known as masques. These were elaborate performances that combined poetry, music, dance, and visual elements.
6. Legacy: Despite facing challenges and controversies during his lifetime, Ben Jonson is remembered as a key figure in English literature, and his works continue to be studied and performed.
❝ Love is not about how many days, months, or years you have been together. Love is about how much you love each other every single...
Ben Jonson is renowned for his witty and insightful writings. Although he's more celebrated for his plays and poetry than direct quotes, here are some excerpts and paraphrased wisdom from his works:
1. "Drink today, and drown all sorrow; you shall perhaps not do it tomorrow."
2. "True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends but in their worth and choice."
3. "Language most shows a man; speak that I may see thee."
4. "He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
5. "Words borrowed of antiquity do lend a kind of majesty to style, and are not without their delight sometimes."
6. "To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks."
7. "Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar."
8. "He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity."
9. "He is his own best friend that makes himself such."
10. "A good writer is not born but made."
11. "Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue."
12. "They that know no evil will suspect none."
13. "Silence is the virtue of fools."
❝ A good writer is not born but made..!!💫❞
14. "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit."
15. "Speak that I may see thee; it springs from the very soul."
16. "Neither do thou lust after that tawny weed tobacco."
17. "The greatest sin in the world is bringing up your children ill."
18. "True joy, and true love are twins."
19. "He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity."
20. "It's not every question that deserves an answer."
21. "What is intended to be humorous, ought, in the first place, to be true."
22. "Words are the money of fools."
23. "Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not."
24. "A man must serve his time to every trade."
25. "Many men know the paths of the stars, but only a few are wise enough to follow them."
❝ It's not Every Question that Deserves an Answer..!!💫❞
Follow a shadow, it still flies you, Seem to fly, it will pursue.
