Quotes by Ben Jonson

About Ben Jonson:

Benjamin Jonson is best known for the satirical plays Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or The Foxe (1605), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy (1614), and for his lyric poetry; he is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I feel my griefs too, and there scarce is ground Upon my flesh t'inflict another wound. Yet dare I not complain, or wish for death With holy Paul; lest it be thought the breath Of discontent; or that these prayers be For weariness of life, not love o...

Ben Jonson

Talking is the disease of age.

Ben Jonson

They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom.

Ben Jonson

Art hath an enemy called Ignorance.

Ben Jonson

He wil sooner lose his best friend, then his least jest.

Ben Jonson

Mischiefs feed / Like beasts, till they be fat, and then they bleed.

Ben Jonson

Riches, the dumb god that giv'st all men tongues, / That canst do nought, and yet mak'st men do all things; / The price of souls; even hell, with thee to boot, / Is made worth heaven!

Ben Jonson

Words borrowed of antiquity do lend a kind of majesty to style, and are not without their delight sometimes.

Ben Jonson

True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.

Ben Jonson

Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.

Ben Jonson

Honor's a good brooch to wear in a man's hat at all times.

Ben Jonson

Good men are the stars, the planets of the ages wherein they live, and illustrate the times.

Ben Jonson

There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.

Ben Jonson

In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measures, life may perfect be.

Ben Jonson

Weigh the meaning and look not at the words.

Ben Jonson

They that know no evil will suspect none.

Ben Jonson

'Tis the common disease of all your musicians that they know no mean, to be entreated, either to begin or end.

Ben Jonson

If you be sick, your own thoughts make you sick.

Ben Jonson

Apes are apes, though clothed in scarlet.

Ben Jonson

Ambition makes more trusty slaves than need.

Ben Jonson

Author Bio

  • NameBen Jonson
  • DescriptionEnglish playwright, poet, and literary critic
  • BornJune 21, 1572
  • DiedAugust 6, 1637
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionPlaywright; Poet; Writer