Oliver Goldsmith citáty

page 3

„Mám rád všetko, čo je staré; starých priateľov, staré časy, staré spôsoby, staré knihy, staré vína.“

„Človek, ktorý opustí domov, aby zlepšil seba a ostatných, je filozof; kto ide z jednej krajiny do druhej vedený slepým pudom zvedavosti, je obyčajný vagabund.“

„Jeho najlepší spoločníci, nevinnosť a zdravie; a jeho najlepšie bohatstvo, nepoznanie bohatstva.“

„Kniha môže byť zábavná s mnohými chybami, alebo môže byť veľmi nudná bez jediného nezmyslu.“

„Ľudia sa zriedka polepšia, keď nemajú žiadny iný vzor na napodobňovanie ako samých seba.“

„Milovať svojich blížnych ako seba samého je spravodlivosť; ale milovať ich viac ako seba, to je pravá láska.“

„Priateľstvo je nezištný styk medzi seberovnými; láska je úbohý styk medzi tyranmi a otrokmi.“

„Srdce je olovnica, ktorá presne ukazuje, kam smeruje naše myslenie.“

„Vybral som si manželku tak, ako ona svoje svadobné šaty, nie pre ich jemný, lesklý povrch, ale pre také vlastnosti, ktoré sa dobre nosia.“

„Zákony drvia chudobných a bohatí ovládajú zákon.“

„Žarty boháčov sú vždy vtipné.“

“By the living jingo, she was all of a muck of sweat.”

“Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow,
Or by the lazy Scheldt, or wandering Po.”

“Good people all, with one acord,
Lament for Madame Blaize,
Who never wanted a good word —
From those who spoke her praise.”

“Measures, not men, have always been my mark.”

“A nightcap decked his brows instead of bay,
A cap by night — a stocking all the day!”

“Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose,
Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.”

“His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.”

“His conduct still right, with his argument wrong.”

“I was ever of the opinion that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single, and only talked of population.”

“The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made.”

“We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favors.”

“Let us draw upon Content for the deficiencies of fortune.”

“In all the silent manliness of grief.”

“Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.”

“The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”

“He calls his extravagance, generosity; and his trusting everybody, universal benevolence.”

“Man seems the only growth that dwindles here.”

“The better sort here pretend to the utmost compassion for animals of every kind. To hear them speak, a stranger would be apt to imagine they could hardly hurt the gnat that stung them: they seem so tender and so full of pity, that one would take them for the harmless friends of the whole creation; the protectors of the meanest insect or reptile that was privileged with existence. And yet, would you believe it? I have seen the very men who have thus boasted of their tenderness, at the same time devouring the flesh of six different animals toasted up in a fricassee. Strange contrariety of conduct! they pity and they eat the objects of their compassion.”

“And learn the luxury of doing good.”

“Our Garrick's a salad; for in him we see
Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!”

“One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title page, another works away at the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.”

“The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love,
The matron's glance that would those looks reprove.”

“Pride in their port, defiance in their eye,
I see the lords of humankind pass by.”

“As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent.”

“Don't let us make imaginary evils, when you know we have so many real ones to encounter.”

“Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
His pity gave ere charity began.
Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And e'en his failings leaned to Virtue's side.”

“Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.”

“Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper circling round
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd.
Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declar'd how much he knew,
'T was certain he could write and cipher too.”

“A flattering painter, who made it his care
To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.”