Oliver Goldsmith

Those who think must govern those that toil.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Could a man live by it, it were not unpleasant employment to be a poet.

— Oliver Goldsmith

We are all sure of two things, at least; we shall suffer and we shall all die.

— Oliver Goldsmith

They say women and music should never be dated.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Fortune is ever seen accompanying industry.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Though very poor, may still be very blest.

— Oliver Goldsmith

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

— Oliver Goldsmith

If you were to make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Philosophy ... should not pretend to increase our present stock, but make us economists of what we are possessed of.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Amid thy desert-walks the lapwing flies, And tires their echoes with unvaried cries.

— Oliver Goldsmith

We had no revolutions to fear, nor fatigues to undergo; all our adventures were by the fireside, and all our migrations from…

— Oliver Goldsmith

The hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowded with fruition.

— Oliver Goldsmith

As for disappointing them I should not so much mind; but I can't abide to disappoint myself.

— Oliver Goldsmith

The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy.

— Oliver Goldsmith

One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title page, another works away at the body of the book, and…

— Oliver Goldsmith

Nothing is so contemptible as that affectation of wisdom, which some display, by universal incredulity.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Were I to be angry at men being fools, I could here find ample room for declamation; but, alas! I have been…

— Oliver Goldsmith

What we say of a thing that has just come in fashion And that which we do with the dead, Is the…

— Oliver Goldsmith

Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravelled, fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain,…

— Oliver Goldsmith

I learn several great truths; as that it is impossible to see into the ways of futurity, that punishment always attends the…

— Oliver Goldsmith

The more various our artificial necessities, the wider is our circle of pleasure; for all pleasure consists in obviating necessities as they…

— Oliver Goldsmith

There are but few talents requisite to become a popular preacher; for the people are easily pleased if they perceive any endeavors…

— Oliver Goldsmith

There is probably no country so barbarous that would not disclose all it knew, if it received equivalent information; and I am…

— Oliver Goldsmith

The wisdom of the ignorant somewhat resembles the instinct of animals; it is diffused in but a very narrow sphere, but within…

— Oliver Goldsmith

The life of a scholar seldom abounds with adventure.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view.

— Oliver Goldsmith

But winter lingering chills the lap of May.

— Oliver Goldsmith

In proportion as society refines, new books must ever become more necessary.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Our greatest glory consists not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.

— Oliver Goldsmith

The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.

— Oliver Goldsmith

A man's own heart must ever be given to gain that of another.

— Oliver Goldsmith

If we do not find happiness in the present moment, in what shall we find it?

— Oliver Goldsmith

True wisdom consists of tracing effects to their causes.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Good counsel rejected returns to enrich the givers bosom.

— Oliver Goldsmith

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

— Oliver Goldsmith

When a person has no need to borrow they find multitudes willing to lend.

— Oliver Goldsmith

“A reserved lover, it is said, always makes a suspicious husband.”

— Oliver Goldsmith

If one wishes to become rich they must appear rich.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Death when unmasked shows us a friendly face and is a terror only at a distance.

— Oliver Goldsmith