--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Plots, true or false, are necessary…" description: "\"Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.\" — John Dryden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg" --- # Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up… ![“Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.” quote by John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg) > “Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.” [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political rhetoric uses plots to manipulate wealth and power dynamics, influencing societies and rulers alike. **In simple terms:** Plots shape wealth and power. Key Takeaway Recognize how narratives can shift fortunes. Themes politics power wealth manipulation Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - campaigns - legislation - media narratives - public opinion Key Concepts propaganda social engineering Questions to Reflect On - How do stories affect economic structures? - Can narratives be used ethically to improve society? A Different Perspective Not all plots are malicious; some aim for reform. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commonwealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonwealth/) [King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/king/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Necessary things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-things/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) ## Related quotes > [“...something can be a good thing and yet not a necessary thing. It is good for people to be expert at brain surgery. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-lee-austin/something-can-be-a-good-thing-and-yet-not-a-necessary-thing-it-is/) Victor Lee Austin > [In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-baxter/in-necessary-things-unity-in-doubtful-things-liberty-in-all-things/) [Anne Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-baxter/) > [There is harm not only in trying to gain wealth but also in excessive concern with even the most necessary things. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/there-is-harm-not-only-in-trying-to-gain-wealth-but-also-in-excessive/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced. . . . It is that absence of being able to envisage that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/depression-is-the-most-unpleasant-thing-i-have-ever-experienced-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Necessary.—One of those things that may drive a thinker into despair is the recognition of the fact that the illogical is necessary for man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/necessary-one-of-those-things-that-may-drive-a-thinker-into-despair/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is Toussaint's supreme merit that while he saw European civilisation as a valuable and necessary thing, and strove to lay its foundations among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-toussaint-s-supreme-merit-that-while-he-saw-european/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Aristippus being asked what were the most necessary things for well-born boys to learn, said, "Those things which they will put in practice when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diogenes-laertius/aristippus-being-asked-what-were-the-most-necessary-things-for-well/) [Diogenes Laertius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diogenes-laertius/) > [God's willingness to answer our prayers exceeds our willingness to give good and necessary things to our children, just as far as God's ability,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/god-s-willingness-to-answer-our-prayers-exceeds-our-willingness-to/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [Better to know a few things which are good and necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/better-to-know-a-few-things-which-are-good-and-necessary-than-many/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Poetry is like air. It's one of the necessary things. Everyone benefits from poetry. And as you know, poetry is international. There are only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-giovanni/poetry-is-like-air-it-s-one-of-the-necessary-things-everyone-benefits/) [Nikki Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-giovanni/) > [Only Christ could have brought us all together, in this place, doing such absurd but necessary things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/only-christ-could-have-brought-us-all-together-in-this-place-doing/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [ He is not poor who has the use of necessary things. \[Lat., Pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetet usus.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/he-is-not-poor-who-has-the-use-of-necessary-things-lat-pauper-enim/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [It is easier to compare concrete things in a fictional story with concrete things in real life than it is to compare abstractions with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/it-is-easier-to-compare-concrete-things-in-a-fictional-story-with/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [The first state an actor experiences onstage is the one he just experienced in life. One needs great courage not to portray this experience.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-vakhtangov/the-first-state-an-actor-experiences-onstage-is-the-one-he-just/) Yevgeny Vakhtangov > [We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/we-rich-men-count-our-felicity-and-happiness-to-lie-in-these/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) ## More by John Dryden > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Trust on and think To-morrow will repay; To-morrow's falser than the former day; Lies worse; and while it says, we shall be blest With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/trust-on-and-think-to-morrow-will-repay-to-morrow-s-falser-than-the/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith but bungling bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/to-take-up-half-on-trust-and-half-to-try-name-it-not-faith-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Among our crimes oblivion may be set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/among-our-crimes-oblivion-may-be-set/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb, Than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/and-after-hearing-what-our-church-can-say-if-still-our-reason-runs/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Happy, happy, happy pair! None but the brave deserves the fair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/happy-happy-happy-pair-none-but-the-brave-deserves-the-fair/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [A coward is the kindest animal; 'Tis the most forgiving creature in a fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/a-coward-is-the-kindest-animal-tis-the-most-forgiving-creature-in-a/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [God never made his work for man to mend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/god-never-made-his-work-for-man-to-mend/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Reason to rule, mercy to forgive: The first is law, the last prerogative. Life is an adventure in forgiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/reason-to-rule-mercy-to-forgive-the-first-is-law-the-last-prerogative/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Stiff opinion, always in the wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/stiff-opinion-always-in-the-wrong/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [He with a graceful pride, While his rider every hand survey'd, Sprung loose, and flew into an escapade; Not moving forward, yet with every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/he-with-a-graceful-pride-while-his-rider-every-hand-survey-d-sprung/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Men's virtues I have commended as freely as I have taxed their crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/men-s-virtues-i-have-commended-as-freely-as-i-have-taxed-their-crimes/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Virtue without success is a fair picture shown by an ill light; but lucky men are favorites of heaven; all own the chief, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/virtue-without-success-is-a-fair-picture-shown-by-an-ill-light-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Zeal, the blind conductor of the will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/zeal-the-blind-conductor-of-the-will/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [“Night came, but unattended with repose. Alone she came, no sleep their eyes to close. Alone and black she came; no friendly stars arose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/night-came-but-unattended-with-repose-alone-she-came-no-sleep-their/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) [Explore all 520 John Dryden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## More Commonwealth quotes > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [ Brian Mulroney, myself, \[and\] Rajiv Gandhi; I think that was the real core \[of the Commonwealth \]. That was the engine room, I reckon. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/brian-mulroney-myself-and-rajiv-gandhi-i-think-that-was-the-real-core/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) > [Indifference must be a crime in us, to be ranked but one degree below treachery; for deserting the commonwealth is next to betraying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/indifference-must-be-a-crime-in-us-to-be-ranked-but-one-degree-below/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [Members in the Commonwealth of God are not bound together by the specifics of their religion, for the nature of our interdependency does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/members-in-the-commonwealth-of-god-are-not-bound-together-by-the/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [I would like to thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for the very fair manner in which this matter has been dealt with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-collins/i-would-like-to-thank-the-commonwealth-games-federation-for-the-very/) [Kim Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-collins/) > [Though bachelors be the strongest stakes, married men are the best binders, in the hedge of the commonwealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-fuller/though-bachelors-be-the-strongest-stakes-married-men-are-the-best/) [Thomas Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-fuller/) > [Believing that I was born for the service of mankind, and regarding the care of the commonwealth as a kind of common property which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/believing-that-i-was-born-for-the-service-of-mankind-and-regarding/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [I am prepared to resort to anything, to submit to anything, for the sake of the commonwealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-caesar/i-am-prepared-to-resort-to-anything-to-submit-to-anything-for-the/) [Julius Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-caesar/) > [The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-civil-magistrate-cannot-function-without-some-ethical-guidance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a divine commonwealth holiness must have the principal honor and encouragement, and a great difference be made between the precious and the vile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/in-a-divine-commonwealth-holiness-must-have-the-principal-honor-and/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [And who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/and-who-can-doubt-that-it-will-lead-to-the-worst-disorders-when-minds/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [In Boston, we don't lead by ourselves. We lead as the capital city and economic engine of a great Commonwealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-walsh/in-boston-we-don-t-lead-by-ourselves-we-lead-as-the-capital-city-and/) [Marty Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-walsh/) > [If the situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, Britain will argue for Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-straw/if-the-situation-in-zimbabwe-continues-to-deteriorate-britain-will/) [Jack Straw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-straw/) > [Because silver and gold have their value from the matter itself, they have first this privilege, that the value of them cannot be altered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/because-silver-and-gold-have-their-value-from-the-matter-itself-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [What reason is there that he which laboreth much, and, sparing the fruits of his labor, consumeth little, should be more charged than he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/what-reason-is-there-that-he-which-laboreth-much-and-sparing-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) [Browse all 251 Commonwealth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonwealth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dryden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things-to-raise-up-commonwealths/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Commonwealth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things-to-raise-up-commonwealths/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/john-dryden-491_commonwealth_plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things_1692212.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.” — John Dryden", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Dryden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Plots, true or false, are necessary...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things-to-raise-up-commonwealths/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/plots-true-or-false-are-necessary-things-to-raise-up-commonwealths/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```