John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
John Webster 1580?-1634 John Bartlett
| 1 |
| I know death hath ten thousand several doors For men to take their exit. 1 |
| Duchess of Malfi. Act iv. Sc. 2. |
| 2 |
| ’T is just like a summer bird-cage in a garden,—the birds that are without despair to get in, and the birds that are within despair and are in a consumption for fear they shall never get out. 2 |
| The White Devil. Act i. Sc. 2. |
| 3 |
| Condemn you me for that the duke did love me? So may you blame some fair and crystal river For that some melancholic, distracted man Hath drown’d himself in ’t. |
| The White Devil. Act iii. Sc. 2. |
| 4 |
| Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, But look’d too near have neither heat nor light. 3 |
| The White Devil. Act iv. Sc. 4. |
| 5 |
| Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren, Since o’er shady groves they hover, And with leaves and flowers do cover The friendless bodies of unburied men. |
| The White Devil. Act v. Sc. 2. |
| 6 |
| Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burns brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweetheart, are surest, and old lovers are soundest. 4 |
| Westward Hoe. Act ii. Sc. 2. |
| 7 |
| I saw him now going the way of all flesh. |
| Westward Hoe. Act ii. Sc. 2. |
| Note 1. Death hath so many doors to let out life.—Beaumont and Fletcher: The Customs of the Country, act ii. sc. 2. [back] |
| Note 2. See Davies, Quotation 2. [back] |
| Note 3. The mountains, too, at a distance appear airy masses and smooth, but when beheld close they are rough.—Diogenes Laertius: Pyrrho. Love is like a landscape which doth stand Smooth at a distance, rough at hand. Robert Hegge: On Love. We ’re charm’d with distant views of happiness, But near approaches make the prospect less. Yalden: Against Enjoyment. As distant prospects please us, but when near We find but desert rocks and fleeting air. Samuel Garth: The Dispensatory, canto iii. line 27. ’T is distance lends enchantment to the view, And robes the mountain in its azure hue. Thomas Campbell: Pleasures of Hope, part i. line 7. [back] |
| Note 4. See Bacon, Quotation 57. [back] |